The Indiana Pacers can’t even hold on to the spotlight in their own hometown. Despite having won six in a row and 10 of 11 games in April, the Pacers were bumped off the front of the Indianapolis Star sports page by the middle of Thursday after it became known that the Colts officially told Andrew Luck they will take him with the No.?1 pick in the NFL Draft.
Under the radar is where the NBA’s most unlikely contenders have been all season even though they’re on pace to claim the third seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs. While Chicago, Miami and Boston take turns getting penciled in as the East favorite, one of them is going to have to go through faceless Indiana just to get to the conference finals.
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If the regular-season ended today, the Pacers would claim the third seed, a position they’re unlikely to relinquish over the next seven days. Who would they face as the No. ?6 seed? The Orlando Magic, who won’t be favored to win a single game if Dwight Howard doesn’t return from a back injury.
Philadelphia, which is struggling to hold off Milwaukee to claim the No. 8 seed, has tailed off badly in recent weeks without a go-to scorer. Somehow, that hasn’t been a problem for the Pacers, who have a combined four All-Star appearances and a roster that includes seven players who average between 8.9 and 13.0 points a game to complement Danny Granger’s 18.8.
All the Pacers know for sure is they will have more nationally televised games in the playoffs; they’ve been on during the regular season only once.
– Craig Stouffer
