Indiana Pacers Finally Playing To Full Potential

The Indiana Pacers had a brutal offseason, losing Lance Stephenson in free agency and Paul George to a broken leg while playing for Team USA. It hasn’t been an easy 2014-15 season so far, but they are still in playoff contention. At this point in time they are 20-32 on the season and are just a couple games out of the eighth playoff seed.

Following George Hill‘s baseline floater with just a few seconds left against the Charlotte Hornets, the Pacers are on a three-game winning streak heading into Monday night’s matchup against the San Antonio Spurs.

Outside of George and a couple other small injuries, the team is back to full strength. George is hoping to return from his leg injury in March, although that may not end up happening. He is back on the court and participating in drills outside of major contact.

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So that being said, can this Pacers team end up making a run back into the playoff picture throughout the last section of their schedule?

There is one obvious answer to that question, and it is a resounding yes.

Indiana has all of the pieces to be a quality playoff contender, especially if they can get their superstar back from injury. It wasn’t a coincidence that the team started playing better basketball soon after Larry Bird and George announced that he was targeting March as a return from his injury. There is new hope within the Pacers’ organization, and they are playing with an energy that hasn’t been there all season long.

Are they going to be championship contenders? Probably not. Will they make it to their third consecutive Eastern Conference Finals appearance? Probably not.

That being said, they have the potential to be a playoff team that can cause some issues for any team that they face in the first round. If George comes back and gets to 100 percent in time for the playoffs, then there would be a chance that the Pacers could end up in the conference finals once again.

When everything is said and done, the “tank” mode that most fans have been in needs to stop. Seeing this team win and play a competitive brand of basketball should be enough to excite the fan base. Would a top five draft pick be nice? Sure, but it’s better to be more likely this seasons Pacers team than the Philadelphia 76ers.

Don’t expect the Pacers to give up down the stretch of the season. They are holding onto the belief that they can make a run back to the playoff picture, and they aren’t going to let anyone knock that hope out of their heads until they are mathematically eliminated from the playoffs or have clinched a playoff spot.

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