The Pacers were buoyant following practice on Thursday, still feeling the buzz from three consecutive victories and eager to board a plane for Toronto where they'll play the Raptors – a likely playoff opponent – on Friday.
And to think seven days ago they were a miserable group that had lost two straight home games, one by 20 points to a losing team, and regarded as quitters in some quarters, if not road kill. Team broadcast commentators were urging soul-searching and long gazes into a mirror. Coach Frank Vogel promised lineup changes, and the players were critical as well.
"The biggest thing is, we have to act like we want to be in the playoffs," C.J. Miles said after the March 31 loss to Orlando in which fans booed them over the last four minutes. "Plain and simple. We want to be in the playoffs? Play like we want to be in the playoffs."
The Pacers (42-36) are almost certainly going to be in the playoffs following uneven weekend victories at Philadelphia and New York and Wednesday's uplifting win over Cleveland. With four games remaining in the regular season, their magic number is two and their odds have been set at 99.5 percent according to Basketball-Reference.com
The road from despair to delight began last Friday, in the morning-after practice. It was energetic and talkative, with full participation. Nagging injuries were ignored, and the playoff mission brought back into focus. There were no soapbox speeches, no clever mood-lifting gimmicks, just a general awareness of what needed to happen.
"(The Orlando loss) kind of stinged us to the heart and shifted our mindset," Ian Mahinmi said Thursday. "Usually after a game you come to practice the next day and you're kind of like 'Ahhhhhh' – you drag your feet a little bit. We didn't have none of that. We came right back the next day ready to work and I think it shows now."
The wins that followed looked good in the standings, but not on the court. The Pacers squandered 18-point third-quarter advantages against both the 76ers and Knicks, and had to scramble from behind to avoid further depressing the fanbase.
After a day off on Monday, they regathered for another productive practice on Tuesday, which led in part to the victory over the Cavs on Wednesday. It would be a better story if there was one moment that shifted the team's direction – a fiery speech, a tearful plea – but it rarely happens that way.
"We've had very good practices where you can tell guys were sharp and those lead to good games like (Wednesday) night," Mahinmi said.
"Especially at this time of the year, it's a lot of sharpness, how guys come into practice ready to play with good energy. When you have lots of voices, guys that try to help each other, guys getting into each other a little bit, this shows you OK, we're ready to practice, we're ready to go. And those are the type of practices we've had the last few (times)."
It helped, of course, that the Cavs sat LeBron James on Wednesday, and it seemed to help further that they went with a smaller lineup that helped bring out the best in the Pacers' offense. Ball movement had been a problem in last week's homecourt losses to Chicago and Orlando. George Hill said as much by praising the Magic for scoring 114 points against them.
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"You have to give Orlando credit," Hill said after that game. "(Coach) Scott Skiles has been doing a heckuva job (and they're) moving the ball; nonstop movement. They're hitting the open man and they made some great shots."
The Pacers racked up 25 assists against the Cavs, which is a telling stat for them. In fact, it might be the stat most directly linked toward outcomes. They are 15-4 this season when compiling 25 or more assists. It reflects shot-making, yes, but also ball movement, which usually leads to easy shots. Wednesday, the Pacers outscored Cleveland in the paint, 46-32 because of that movement.
Hill's praise was directed toward his team this time.
"More than ever, we made the extra pass," he said. "We were looking to play for each other on both ends of the floor. Defensively, we were communicating better, offensively we were talking a little bit more, making the pass."
Solomon Hill calls such ball movement "the extra one-more." Cleveland made it easier for the Pacers to go one more by going with a smaller lineup that allowed the Pacers to go with smaller, more mobile players.
"We were able to put something together with the way Cleveland played us defensively," Solomon Hill said. "They went small with Kevin Love at the five, which is a unit they normally don't use."
Vogel also has made a strategic change toward that goal. The loss to Orlando motivated him to put the ball in Monta Ellis' hands more often and allow George Hill to play off the ball. Ellis has been better at attacking the rim, while Hill is the team's best 3-point shooter (.397). That adjustment seemed to simplify the offense, with one point guard instead of two, and define roles more sharply.
"That was one of the adjustments I thought would give us a little bit of a spark," Vogel said. "It's really a credit to George (Hill). He's capable of attacking and creating – we've seen that over the years with him – but it takes away a 40 percent 3-point shooter on the weak side. It just make sense in terms of how our pieces fit."
Pieces seemingly in place, the vocabulary coming out of the Pacers locker room now runs along the lines of "swag" and "confidence" and "fun" and "rhythm." It's a drastically different tune from the previous week. Now the trick is to avoid going back to the sad refrain of days gone by.
"I think we're playing well at the right time," George said. "It just has to continue. We all feel great about this win and the streak we're on. It's about capitalizing on this moment now."