The Pacers were probably the league's biggest teases in the first half of the season. They beat the four best teams in the league -- Boston, Lakers, Orlando and Cleveland -- but they've also lost to teams like Minnesota, the Clippers, Memphis and Washington.
The Pacers are 12 games under .500, but it's the fact that they've shown they can compete against the league's elite teams that permits them to feel like they can still make a run at a playoff spot. And the fact that they're only four-and-a-half games out of the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. The schedule is in their favor coming out of the All-Star break.
The Philadelphia 76ers, who the Pacers open up against after the break, are the only team with a winning record the Pacers face in their first seven games after the break.
The Pacers' playoff aspirations will likely hinge on how healthy Danny Granger (knee), Mike Dunleavy (knee) and Marquis Daniels (back) are in the second half of the season. Granger, a first-time All Star, has been dealing with a knee problem for nearly three weeks. Dunleavy sat out the final two games before the break because of pain in the same knee that caused him to miss the first 34 games of the season. Daniels only played in two of the final six games before the break. Indiana needs all three players healthy if it expects get the seventh or eighth seed.
BUCKS 122, PACERS 110: Richard Jefferson made sure the Pacers went into the All-Star break on a low. Jefferson scored a game-high 32 points and point guard Ramon Sessions picked apart the Pacers defense by dishing out 17 assists to go with his 15 points. All-Star forward Danny Granger led three Pacers with at least 20 points when he finished with 26 points. However, he was just 5-of-18 from the field. Troy Murphy added 23 points and 10 rebounds.
