The Indiana Pacers are close to winning the race for the East, but they’re limping toward the finish.

For a team that was so open and adamant about having home court in the playoffs, they haven’t been playing like it lately.

Rarely do you hear a team in the position of the Indiana Pacers make such a unique declaration. They are a young team on the rise with a budding superstar in Paul George. Some say they are ahead of schedule.

The Pacers got their first taste of what the NBA Playoffs are all about when they reached the conference finals last season, where they lost in seven games to the eventual champion Miami Heat.

It would appear that they are ready to take the next step.

Home court appears to be the priority if they are to do so. Apparently they need it. In that conference finals matchup, the first four games were split with the Heat and Pacers winning on each other’s floor. The home teams won games 5 and 6. The Heat hosted Game 7, in which they annihilated the Pacers 99-76, eliminating Indiana. 

Maybe if Game 7 was in Indiana, the outcome would have been different. Maybe not.

The statement declaring that home court was necessary was likely directed toward the Miami Heat, but it stretches deeper than that.

In last year’s conference semifinals against the New York Knicks, the Pacers lost two of three games in Madison Square Garden. It continues. In the first round of these same playoffs, the Pacers lost two of three road games to the Atlanta Hawks. See a trend developing?

It would be a psychological advantage for the Pacers to lock up home court. It would likely be close to psychological meltdown if they weren’t.

The way Paul George’s team has been playing of late, it doesn’t look good for the mental state of their basketball team.

With a loss Sunday at Dallas, the Pacers have dropped four in a row, including a home loss to a good Golden State team. The Pacers home record dropped to 29-4.

The other three were inexplicably bad road losses.

Indiana was demolished 109-87 by Charlotte last Wednesday behind Al Jefferson’s 34 points and eight rebounds. The Pacers followed that performance with a 112-86 debacle at Houston on Friday night.

Then they lost to Dallas on Sunday.

At the heart of the Pacers’ poor play, aside from their defense taking a vacation, is Paul George.

He simply has not performed.

In the game against the Bobcats, he tallied a grand total of two points and five turnovers. Against Houston, he managed 13 points on 5-of-12 shooting and added four more turnovers.

This losing streak leaves them tied with the Heat in the loss column. They are one and a half games ahead by virtue of playing and winning more games.

Fortunately for the Pacers, it is not too late to right the ship. 

With about a month left in the season and two matchups with the Miami Heat looming, home court hopes are dangling in the balance. The two teams spilt their games, played earlier in the season, with both teams successfully defending their home court.

Indiana and Miami both have a home game against each other remaining.

Miami also has gotten to the soft part of its schedule.

The Pacers have a couple of games left against division foe Chicago Bulls and games against the Grizzles, Spurs and Thunder down the stretch.

With every game being important in the race for home court, the Indiana Pacers need to find a way to pick up the pace.

Spencer is a senior in LAS. He can be reached at [email protected].