Insider: Pacers 'not learning' or growing in close games

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – No team in the NBA this season has more experience in close games than the 2014-15 Indiana Pacers.

Through half a season, the Pacers have gained intimate knowledge of this pressure. They've scored pivotal baskets within the final two minutes and even stood up defensively for stops while going down to the wire in 11 games and taking four others to overtime. They have consistently shown the ability to compete, and yet they haven't grown enough to win these games.

"We're sitting over there looking at (each other) saying it looks familiar," said first-year Pacer C.J. Miles. "'(Darn),' we're doing this again. Alright, then, let's fix it.' We talk about it as competitors, as basketball players, perfectionists at our craft. You want to get the last three possessions back on the next possession and it doesn't work like that."

The Pacers (15-27) may have more experience than any other opponent in tight games but the results tell a different story. Saturday night in Charlotte marked the latest example of the Pacers' late-game flaws. Unable to outscore an opponent that was missing its top two scorers, Indiana lost to the Hornets 80-71 in overtime.

Though the Pacers have spent the past 30 days tied up in the same quandary – six of the team's last 10 losses were all one-possession games – they have displayed little resolve. And the frustration continues to build.

After the loss in Charlotte, veteran power forward David West responded with brutal honesty to a question focused on if the Pacers are familiar with handling close games.

"We're not winning, so we're not (familiar)," West said, murmuring his words until they finally trailed off. "We're losing these games. We're not learning and I don't know."

According to STATS, the Pacers lead the league with the most losses by three points or less with nine; next are the Phoenix Suns and San Antonio Spurs at six. For silver lining enthusiasts, at least this means the Pacers can play right along with just about any rival in the league and make it a game until the very end. However, as dramatic and entertaining as this is, the final result still matters and losing doesn't make for good TV no matter how close it is.

On Saturday afternoon, the NBA announced that it had removed the Jan. 29 game at Bankers Life Fieldhouse between the Pacers and New York Knicks from its national television schedule on TNT. The game also will not be televised on the local Fox affiliate. After performances like Saturday night, Pacers' games may need to come with viewer discretion labels.

Though the Pacers have reached the zenith of their season – beating Dallas, Chicago and Miami on the road and also shooting 50 percent or more during a four-game stretch in December – they have now tumbled to the depths of their desolation by scoring the fewest points in an overtime game (71) by an NBA team since the advent of the shot clock, according to Elias Sports.

"I think we're comfortable with each other," Rodney Stuckey observed, "but as far as being on the court and playing together, I think we can get better at that."

Examples of lack of cohesion with this patched-together group started during the fifth game of the season. During a nationally televised game, the Pacers surprised the home team Washington Wizards by sending the game into overtime. However on that Nov. 5 night, the third-string point guard (Donald Sloan) drove the lane and tossed back a pass to 7-2 center Roy Hibbert for a potential game-winning 3-pointer, which wasn't the design of the play. Fast forward to the midpoint of the season Saturday and backup point guard C.J. Watson lost one possession in overtime by dribbling the ball out of bounds and the halfcourt offense produced a single field goal through the final 8:33 of regulation and overtime.

"We don't have the same group. We're not the same roster," West said in dismissing comparisons to last year's Pacers. "We don't have the same DNA. So obviously we're missing key pieces (and) we're not the same team."

Either Sloan or Watson, and a rotating cast of would-be closers, have been on the floor during these one-possession games. Not once has the starting point guard, George Hill, filled that role and the Pacers have only played five minutes with the starting lineup Frank Vogel envisioned (Hill, Stuckey, Miles, West, Hibbert).

The 2014-15 Pacers are a collection of role players intended for temporary use but had to become the faces of the team during this injury-filled season. Charlotte coach Steve Clifford summed up this reality while trying to explain how the Pacers could allow opposing point guards Mo Williams and Brandon Jennings to score a combined 89 points in the two previous losses.

"Obviously, too, let's face it: George Hill is a terrific defender," Clifford said. "Over a long period of time when you ask guys like C.J. Watson – (who), to me, is a really good backup because when you need him to play big minutes he's more than capable, but George Hill's a starter. Now you're asking a guy that's a career backup to play night after night as a starter and, over time, there'll be some issues."

Follow Star reporter Candace Buckner on Twitter: @CandaceDBuckner.

INDIANA AT HOUSTON

Tipoff: 5:30 p.m. Monday.

TV: Fox Sports Indiana.

Radio: WFNI-1070 AM, 107.5-FM.

PACERS (15-27)

Projected starters

Pos. Player PPG Key stat PG C.J. Watson 10.5 3.8 apg SG Rodney Stuckey 11.5 3.9 rpg SF Solomon Hill 10.0 4.5 rpg PF David West 12.9 6.9 rpg C Roy Hibbert 11.4 2.0 bpg 6th C.J. Miles 12.0 2.

ROCKETS (28-13)

Projected starters

Pos. Player PPG Key stat PG Patrick Beverley 11.8 3.2 apg SG James Hardin 26.6 .372 3-pt% SF Trevor Ariza 12.7 5.5 rpg PF Donatas Motiejunas 11.0 6.0 rpg C Dwight Howard 17.1 11.0 rpg 6th Jason Terry 7.7 .387 3-pt%

STORYLINES

Get the first half lead: Sometimes, stats can just be numbers that mean little – like the fact that the Pacers are 3-3 on Monday night games, their best day of the week for winning. However, this stat should matter for any team that plays Houston: the Rockets have won 22 of the 24 games in which they've led at halftime. It would be imperative for the Pacers not to fall down early in the game against an opponent featuring the NBA's leading scorer, James Harden.

He said what?!: "Even though it's game 41, we haven't (had) the experience where we've gotten there in those type of situations…. We need to win a couple of those, then we'll continue to grow but it's going to take time." – Roy Hibbert preaching patience midway through the season after the Pacers' 80-71 overtime loss to Charlotte..

Prediction: After four straight losses to teams with records under the .500 mark, the Pacers will have to find their way out of this despair against the No. 4 team in the Western Conference. Roy Hibbert will need to figure out how to stay on the floor while going up against Dwight Howard. Too many problems to solve, so Houston wins 100-82.

— Candace Buckner