Pacers Courtside

I’ve got to admit, I just hoped for a well played game and good fan turnout. The pregame concert and festivities were very well put together. Blues Traveler rocked and when the crowd began to fill up Conseco Fieldhouse, it was just icing on the cake. As the lights dimmed and the lighted towels started flying around all over the place the excitement rose to a new level. John Popper jammed out the National Anthem on his harmonica and the game was underway.

A couple hickups at first, but we were holding our own against the Boston Celtics and the fans were encouraged. We started warming up by hitting several threes, playing solid defense, and got the Celtics in early foul trouble. All of a sudden we were up by ten and I was secretly watching the clock hoping it would speed up so we could end the game with a lead. The Pacers didn’t need a magical clock, but how was I supposed to know the Indiana Pacers would be up by 25 points against the defending champions?

We could go on about the players, but everyone played well. You can’t really complain about a single Pacers performance for this game, which has been rare for years. Everyone stepped up and played great defense and offense. Daniels, Murphy and others were great on both ends of the court. The new Pacers defense is exactly that, a new level of defense we haven’t seen before. The effort was great from guys like Daniels who was constantly trying to swat the ball and ended up with his first double-double as a Pacer with 13 points, 10 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks. Troy Murphy had three steals and 5 assists, and a couple missed shots, but who’s counting. T.J. Ford was quick all night and had zero turnovers, plus 19 points, 4 assists and 2 steals in 34 minutes.

Danny Granger had an excellent first home game, especially in the first half, after being resigned for five more years. 20 points, 4 rebounds, 2 blocks, 1 assist and a lot of hustle that doesn’t show up in the box score. Granger showed a lot of energy, not only with his mouth, but his continued driving to the basket and scoring free throws. He gave his heart out and took two teeth out. Tough and respect are two words that come to mind.

The detractors say the Celtics were tired, the crowd wasn’t really sold out, one game doesn’t mean anything . . . whatever. We just schooled the defending champions in our first home game, with a bunch of new players, and no Mike Dunleavy. The crowd was more excited during this game, even before it started, than I can remember in several years. Plus we had old school organ music, how cool is that?

Looking back at the first preseason game at Pepsi Coliseum, this is a completley different team. Same players, minus Shawn Williams, but somehow eight games later and they became cohesive, together, and most importantly - a TEAM!