The Pacers leave Tuesday morning for one of the strangest road trips in the franchise's NBA history. It wouldn't be fair to compare it to ABA road trips, because some of those schedules look like they were concocted by drawing dates out of a hat. The NBA schedules, however, are supposed to be carefully formulated by computer, and made as fair as 82 games can possibly fit into the season's time frame.
There must be some conflicts with arena dates on this five-game Western Conference journey, because the Pacers have a rare three-day break between games, and then are greeted upon their return home with an even more rare back-to-back set.
Wednesday's game in Portland will be followed by three days off before the trip resumes in Los Angeles against the Clippers next Sunday. That begins a five-game week that ends with a home game against Portland – one night after a road game at Dallas.
The Pacers are believed to have had just two other three-day breaks on road trips in their NBA history. They had three days between games in Houston and Utah in December of 1983 and three days between games in Phoenix and Golden State in November of 1989. They had a four-day break between games in San Antonio and Phoenix in November of 1976, but came home between those.
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Three consecutive days off are more than a team prefers, especially on the road, and three days off in Los Angeles offer the threat of a multitude of distractions. The Pacers, however, say they'll make the best of it. A group of players still getting to know one another will have plenty of time to do so.
"I think it's going to do us good, having a chance to hang with guys," Jeff Teague said. "Here, a lot of guys go home with their family and you don't see them until practice time and after that you don't hear from them. I think it will build a little character for this team, probably a closer bond, and hopefully it shows on the court."
Here's to you, Mr. Robinson
He was sitting less than 20 feet away, but Myles Turner wanted to congratulate Glenn Robinson III publicly for his performance in the Pacers' victory over the Clippers on Sunday.
So he tweeted at him:
Robinson later responded:
The Pacers' primary "young guys" are Robinson and Turner, who shared scoring honors in the 91-70 victory over the Clippers. Robinson, 22, finished with 17 points on 7-of-9 shooting, added six rebounds and committed just one turnover in 38 minutes, 43 seconds. Turner, 20, scored 17 points on 8-of-16 shooting with 12 rebounds and one turnover in 24 minutes, 30 seconds.
Robinson is getting what could be a career-altering opportunity amid the injury-induced absence of Paul George and C.J. Miles. He's started four of the last five games, coming off the bench only against Atlanta, when George attempted a premature comeback from his sprained ankle. In those four starts, he's averaging 15.3 points on 48 percent shooting, including 53 percent from behind the 3-point line, and seven rebounds. All in 40.1 minutes per game. He's played 20 more minutes in those four starts than in the other 14 games, including two in which he didn't play at all.
Knowing he'll have to play a lot of minutes has not only given Robinson opportunity to get into the flow of games, it's helped him relax and boost his confidence.
"Third, I'm telling you, man," Turner told reporters in Sunday's postgame locker room. "I called this before the season even started. I'm glad he's stepped up. He's stepped right in there and filled the void."
Pacers coach Nate McMillan settles for calling Robinson's play "solid."
"He's not making a lot of mistakes, he's shooting the ball very well from the perimeter, but what I'm really happy with is the effort he's giving to try to guard," McMillan said. "We know he can shoot the ball, we want him to shoot the ball. Where we really need him to hold his own is defend and rebound the ball.
"We're not calling plays for him. He's allowing the game to come to him. He's playing in the flow of the game, he's getting himself open. What I really like is he's working hard at the defensive end of the floor and is helping on the boards."
In other words, McMillan likes just about everything about the play of the second-round draft pick who was released or not re-signed by Minnesota and Philadelphia and had a brief Summer League stint with Atlanta. Robinson has just four assists in his four starts, and in fact has never had more than three assists in a game in his NBA career, but for now McMillan is willing to put off worrying about playmaking.
"He's bringing energy the entire time he's in the game," McMillan said.
Turner getting tested
Turner was hit with a hefty wallop of life as an NBA center over the past three games, going up against Atlanta's Dwight Howard, Brooklyn's Brook Lopez and the Clippers' DeAndre Jordan.
"Welcome to the NBA," McMillan said before Sunday's game.
Turner escaped unscathed from those three games, averaging 13.3 points and 9.7 rebounds in just 27.7 minutes despite coming off a sprained ankle that kept him out of last Monday's game against Golden State. He outplayed Lopez and Jordan, although Howard finished with 23 points and 20 rebounds.
"He's still developing and trying to grow into that position and learning how to play these guys, really for the first time," McMillan said. "It's an adjustment to go through this process this season, seeing all these different centers and how they play."
Turner's recent play has improved the Pacers' weakest area, rebounding. They outrebounded both Brooklyn and the Clippers, but are still giving up an average of 4.5 per game to opponents. The starting frontline of Turner, Thad Young and George is established, so McMillan is calling for more help from the guards to address the situation.
"We've got to be a good team rebounding group, where we help our bigs with the smash – meaning you've got to box out and the guards have to come down and sandwich the guy," McMillan said. "We have to have our guards come in and help more on rebounds.
"The other part is controlling the ball defensively. If I keep that ball in front of me, now our bigs don't have to step off and help and give up (rebounding) position. There are things we can do, we need to do, we gotta do."
A thriving democracy
The Pacers, for the first time in their NBA history, had a different player lead their scoring outright in seven consecutive games – and nearly ran the streak to eight against the Clippers.
Starting with the game against Orlando on Nov. 14, the following players led the scoring: Miles (16), George (21), Turner (22), Teague (30), Rodney Stuckey (21), Young (24), and Robinson (20).
Al Jefferson nearly extended the streak against the Clippers finishing with 16 points – one less than Robinson and Turner. Jefferson had opportunities to take over the lead in the blowout victory, but hit just 1-of-4 shots in the fourth quarter.
"We have a lot of people on this team who can make plays, night in and night out," he said. "When we're moving the ball as much as we are now, sharing the basketball, it's going to be everybody's turn, every game."
Who are you?
Despite his team's balance, and the victories against Brooklyn and the Clippers, McMillan believes his team is still searching to establish an identity and chemistry.
Asked after the victory on Sunday if he knows what he has in this team, McMillan didn't hesitate.
"No," he said. "We're still trying to establish who we are. What we've seen the last two games is part of what we can be. I'd like to see us play a little faster offensively. I'd like to see us run and push the ball more. I think we can do that. And continue with the ball movement while playing defense.
"No, we're still working on establishing who we are as a team. It's going to take even more time when Paul and C.J. Miles get back. We have to build chemistry with each other with that group."
Miles return uncertain
Miles, who has a sore knee, said he doesn't yet know when he will return to action. The earliest possible date would be next Sunday in Los Angeles against the Clippers. He has been shooting after practices, but hasn't worked out since suffering the injury against Phoenix on Nov. 18.
He said he will step up his workouts this week to test the knee and see how it responds. All in all, he feels fortunate that the non-contact injury wasn't more serious.
"I dodged a bullet," he said. "They (the training staff) told me it could have easily been an ACL (tear)."
George and Kevin Seraphin also will miss Wednesday's game in Portland, but could return for the next game against the Clippers.
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