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NBA - East-leading Pacers a load to handle in the playoffs By Kelly Manalo PhilBoxing.com Wed, 26 Mar 2014 CHICAGO -- The Indiana Pacers have owned the best record in the Eastern Conference throughout the 2013-14 regular season. Entering Monday's visit with the Bulls, they were 3 full games ahead of the two-time defending champions Miami Heat. Even with their recent struggles, the Pacers have been solid from the start. They made some big moves to fortify their and add depth to a team raring for another deep postseason run. Indiana signed oft-injured center Andrew Bynum to play alongside All-Star Roy Hibbert. Both centers are .over 7 foot tall. The depth they have with their frontline will make a tough matchup for any team come playoff time. David West and Luis Scola provide great offense inside and outside the paint while other backup big man Ian Mahinmi provides good defense and energy. Longtime Pacer Danny Granger was traded away for swingman guard Evan Turner and Forward Lavoy Allen. Turner provides a good scorer off the bench after being a starter for the Philadelphia 76ers since being drafted. Paul George has become the superstar of Indiana basketball. He is leading his team with 21.9 points per game but also adding all around statistics with 6.6 rebounds and being a presence on the defensive side of the ball. Guard Lance Stephenson has moved into the starting rotation after being a key bench player for the team in last years playoff run. The 6 foot 5 guard is averaging his best numbers with 14.3 points per game and 7.3 rebounds per game. The Pacers are going to be a handful to deal with their size and athleticism come playoff time. They have the players who can play inside and out with physicality that most teams cannot matchup with. Their size and length make it difficult to score in the paint and even get clean looks from the perimeter. I Indiana pushed the back to back champion Miami Heat to a grueling 7 game series but were unable to close the series to go to the NBA finals. The Indiana Pacers will have a tough two game stretch against the Chicago Bulls and Miami Heat. They have taken two games out of the three against Chicago, while against the Heat they have split the season series with one game a piece so far. Indiana will play at home where they have not lost in four straight games at home against the Heat. With this current Indiana team, they looked like a team to be reckoned with come playoff time as its here NBA finals or bust. (KM) Click here to view a list of other articles written by Kelly Manalo. ![]() |
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