It was a comeback in game 4 and seemingly a return to form in both effort as well as morale on the court for the Indiana Pacers.
Just in the nick of time to, the Pacers notched their 3rd consecutive win in a row for the first time since the week of March 11th – 17th.
Indiana won 4 in a row during that productive week, even though that run came against Detroit, Boston and twice the 76ers (all has less than 30 wins) it still technically counts.
Funny enough Roy Hibbert is crediting his return to form to a heckler;
“He woke me up,” Hibbert said. “He said I was tired. He was saying a lot of obscenities. I’m a God-fearing man, so I’m not going to go ahead and say what he was saying.”
Washington perhaps over achieved in the first round, dismantling Chicago in five, but the team has shown glimpses of their former selver after the initial adrenaline has waned.
The Wiz seem to have failed defense against the dark arts (yes ,a Harry Potter reference) because they had issue holding onto leads. Blowing 11 games in which they were up at least 10 points during the regular season. Old habits die hard.
Wizards haven’t relied on their bench during the course of the playoffs and won’t start now.
It’s been consistently inconsistent to say the least, winning game five vs. Chicago with a playoff low of 6 points from supporting cast members, then losing game four against the Pacers with a playoff high 32 point contribution from the pine posse. Defense is the leg the Wizards have got to stand on if they want to be successful in the remainder of this series. Success has come to Washington when they’ve held opponents under 100 and had at least one quarter per game where said opponents have scored under 20. That’s their equation for success. Something they have only done, surprise, once with the Pacers.
In case you missed it: Indiana stole game 4 from the Wizards following Paul George getting robbed, literally for his personal effects.
His $15,000 All-Star Ring was stolen, a $700 watch, a $170 pair of sneakers and a $20 bill… a single bill…
Hopefully it wasn’t a Washington fan trying to rattle the guard because if you poke the Pacers it’s proven they will come back stronger…
