The Pacers young season has been encapsulated by injuries, that is not new news.
But if the organization could hit an injury low, if there is such a thing, it happened against the Atlanta Hawks on Nov. 2.
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Indiana suited up the required eight players to play, knowing in reality that only six players were available. Six players for a full NBA game. Six.
Those six were not headlined with All-NBA talent either, instead it was led by rotation pieces and rookie Braden Smith, who notched his first NBA start of his career.
Not many can say they played 42 minutes in their first NBA start, but Smith can!
“It was hard, I do not think I have ever been a part of a game where six guys dress,” Smith said. “For all of us to go out there and leave it all out on the court, and at least give them a game, it was a big deal.”
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The Pacers’ 108-104 loss is a loss, but Indiana played incredibly tough with so few numbers. Quenton Jackson played the least amount of minutes on the team and yet still played 35 minutes.
Oddly enough, the Pacers really did have a shot to win the game against the Hawks, but now fall to 2-6 on the season and 0-4 at home.
Jay Huff led in scoring with 22 points on 8-for-14 shooting. Jackson had 20 points and Smith had 19 points and 10 assists for a double-double.
“Braden Smith was tremendous,” Indiana head coach Rick Carlisle said.
Carlisle said it mirrored the game after the Malice at the Palace when the Pacers fought with six players against Orlando.
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“People are still talking about that game, and they will talk about this game for a long time,” Carlisle said. “What those six guys did was very inspirational, for one thing. For another thing, it illustrates the power of hard play and the power of hard, unselfish play.
“…Very happy for our fans that they got to witness this kind of competition.”
Carlisle said the Pacers play on the floor proves the culture that Indiana has built in the last couple of years. He said going forward, it’ll take nothing less than that same effort.
“These guys sat down and got after it,” Carlisle said. “They’ve earned more minutes, all of them, at least the consideration for more minutes for sure. Our whole team needs to take this example to heart.”
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Statistics were also very good for the six players, shooting 48 percent from the field and 87 percent from the charity stripe. The Pacers did get outrebounded 49-39 and coughed it up 18 times, but that is almost to be expected when playing 35-45 minutes.
Indiana sits nearly in last place in the Eastern Conference, only better than the Chicago Bulls, Milwaukee Bucks and the Brooklyn Nets by a single win. The Pacers are currently the 12th seed. While the playoffs are nowhere close, Indiana is starting the season in a hole.
The injury bug will surely leave this team eventually, but the longer it stays, the bigger the hole will become for Indiana to climb out of.
UP NEXT: The Pacers have not won a game since Oct. 25 and will now turn their attention to a stiff Memphis Grizzlies team, who are 6-1 Nov. 4 at 8 p.m.
The Pacers will then head to Mexico City Nov. 7 to face the Denver Nuggets at the neutral site as part of the NBA Global Games at 5 p.m.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: Sports.yahoo.com
