Midseason Grades for Each NBA Team
23-19. 5th East. Indiana Pacers. B. player. 100.
Most people around the league had a difficult time gauging exactly what the Indiana Pacers would look like coming into the 2015-16 season. Sure, they were getting Paul George back, but no one really knew what to expect from the All-Star forward after the horrific leg injury that he suffered. Moreover, the Pacers were making a clear transition from their defensive-minded approach of years past into a more modern brand of basketball focusing on playing more up-tempo and attacking with their perimeter shooting.
However, George has unquestionably regained his superstar form for much of the year and the Pacers have established themselves as a clear playoff team in the Eastern Conference, even if they are currently in the heart of a wild race in the conference where only six games separate the No. 2 and the No. 11 seeds. The Pacers fall in at No. 7, but they have answered many doubts about them as a team in terms of how the transition to this new style of play would work out this season and how PG-13 would look in his return to action.
The Pacers seem like they are one quality trade away from establishing themselves as a top-three team in the conference. However, that doesn’t mean that the first half of their season hasn’t been both surprising and impressive, thus making them deserving of a respectable and favorable grade.
Next: Los Angeles Clippers