The Pacers ran into a rough night on the road in Game 3 against the
Hawks and their response to the adversity was far from championship
caliber.
A gloomy, rainy Friday morning in Indy fittingly captures the mood of Pacers
fans after enduring a frustrating Game 3 loss by the boys in blue. All
road games in the playoffs are critical and this one was right there for
the taking but the Pacers struggled to even put themselves in position
to win it, let alone do what it took to win down the stretch.
This was not unlike several
road losses towards the end of the season, but those didn't include the
painful consequences since a favorable playoff seeding was a lock and
there was hope for a playoff rebirth. Now the Pacers are two losses away
from the season ending with another game in Atlanta on Saturday.
So many, "if only" moments in this one including the Jeff Teague
out-of-bounds three ball which eventually broke the Pacers will. Not
the actual shot mind you, but how the shot played out. I disagree with
those that say if that play went in the Pacers favor, they still
would've lost. After cutting the lead to six, the best defensive
possession of the game had the Pacers momentum steamrolling in the right
direction. They get that stop and the game is going down to the wire.
Now, because the shot didn't go
the Pacers way doesn't give Indiana a pass for folding down the
stretch. They still could've made a run to take the game to the wire.
But the facial expressions of the players when Tony Brothers told them
that, yes, Teague stepped out of bounds but no, they can't reverse the
call spoke volumes. They were done. Suddenly moved into pity mode.
Screwed on the road, what can we do?
Simply an immature response to playoff adversity.
There were plenty of other
plays and culprits to point to with the "no guts, no glory" effort at
Philips Arena where the Pacers will show up again for Game 4. Fight or
flight, what's it gonna be?
This shot of Larry Bird alone should be enough to motivate the Pacers to fight.
By Tom Lewis
Post a Comment