Normally the Pacers start out hot and then have trouble closing, but last night was the exact opposite.  Indiana was down 10 points after the first quarter and down 15 early in the second quarter before making a nice comeback to close the gap to three points at the half. 

After the break, Indiana came out and looked strong with Josh McRoberts of all people helping make several defensive stops.  The scored was tied at the end of three quarters and even late into the game.  Then, TJ Ford took over. 

With just over a minute left to play, Ford came off of a pick and his man sagged back leaving Ford wide open for a three.  That shot put Indiana up by six points and put some energy into the team.  On the next possession, TJ took the ball down the right side of the lane and hit a nice looking floater to put the team back up by six and basically that was all she wrote.

The Pacers got beat 19-8 on the offensive glass, but most of those were early on in the game.  When the NBA's version of a meth head, Robert Swift, is beating you to rebounds, then something is wrong. 

The talent that OKC has on their team tells me that they are going to be quite a special group in a year or two.  With Kevin Durant leading the way and Jeff Green and Russell Westbrook right behind him, this team is really just missing some consistency from their low post players.  I'm not saying they are going to win any championships, but they can make the playoffs in a couple seasons. 

Indiana was led by Ford with 24 points, 10 assists, 7 rebounds, 2 steals, and 1 block.  It was his second near miss on a triple double in as many games.  Danny Granger scored 20 points, grabbed 7 rebounds, had 2 blocks, and 1 steal on the night.  He only played eight minutes in the first half due to foul trouble.

Sitting at 3-3 now, the team has a chance to improve to over .500 on Wednesday night when they play the Nets again, this time in New Jersey.  I see this as a game that they should win, and that is a big key to the season.  Win the games you should and steal some of the ones that you shouldn't and this team can be very successful.