Fansided

NBA Power Rankings: Who is LeBron James not mad at?

By Brandon Jefferson

Jan 23, 2017; New Orleans, LA, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) before a game against the New Orleans Pelicans at the Smoothie King Center. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 23, 2017; New Orleans, LA, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) before a game against the New Orleans Pelicans at the Smoothie King Center. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
5 of 16
Next
Jan 27, 2017; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Indiana Pacers forward Paul George (13) reacts to scoring against the Sacramento Kings at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Indiana defeats Sacramento in overtime 115-111. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 27, 2017; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Indiana Pacers forward Paul George (13) reacts to scoring against the Sacramento Kings at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Indiana defeats Sacramento in overtime 115-111. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports /
12

Indiana Pacers 25-22

Last week: 3-0
Last rank: 13th

Surprise, surprise, when Paul George plays like his top-10 NBA player talent allows him to, the Indiana Pacers are a much better team. When George scores 25 or more points the Pacers have a 14-3 record. After a lowly week saw them go 0-3 ,they turned things around, literally, and went undefeated this week. On the season the Pacers are 18-6 at home. If they can keep up that pace of winning 75 percent of their home games they will find themselves in the playoffs this season. Once there we saw what Paul George can do — see last year’s seven-game series against the two-seeded Toronto Raptors. Jeff Teague and Myles Turner are bringing their A-games more consistently as of late and if they can get something from their bench consistently they could find themselves in the upper half of the standings.

As long as superstar Paul George sticks around the Pacers shouldn’t have much to worry about the second half of the season. Nate McMillian still isn’t the right coach for this team, but he isn’t a big enough detriment to Larry Bird’s uptempo ideals that it will keep them out of the postseason. Shoring up their bench at the deadline would be a great move for Indiana. Possibly adding one of the many wings from the Denver Nuggets (Wilson Chandler or Will Barton) would go a long way for this team.

Home/NBA