Candace Buckner

Pacers at Spurs%2C 8%3A30 p.m. Wednesday%2C FSI

SAN ANTONIO – Their coach got his start inside the video room. The players have become dependent on the truth and lessons that unfold through clips and highlights. There are times when the Indiana Pacers feel like they live inside the darkness, spending more hours in front of a large screen than on the hardwood. And yet this practice, as commonplace as stretch fours and second-chance points in the NBA, can help explain how the patched-together Pacers have moved from losing six straight games early in the season to now defeating three straight potential playoff bound opponents on the road.

"We just learn from our mistakes. We watch film, we watch a lot of film," said Lavoy Allen, who joined the Pacers last February. "I think we watch more film than we actually practice."

On Tuesday, the Pacers finished their time on the court by playing five-on-five – even David West participated in the live action and showed no ill effects from his sprained right ankle – but earlier, players and coaches started the day with the routine of a video session.

As replays from the team's best offensive game of the season flashed before their eyes, the Pacers picked up on the visual reminders of how they can play once teammates understand and operate within the system. During Monday's 111-100 win over the Dallas Mavericks, Indiana raced to 17 fast break points, hit 13-of-26 3-pointers and attacked enough to earn 36 free throws.

"We did a lot of the things we've been talking about trying to do better. We did that (Monday) night," Pacers coach Frank Vogel said. "We made a lot of hustle plays, we screened better, we ran into screens better, just we played better offensively. I think it's just as important to see us doing (that) and reinforce the things when they do them well to get them to do it more consistently."

The Pacers thoroughly outplayed Dallas, the best scoring team in the league, in every offensive component of the game – and much of the credit goes to their commitment to learning from the coaching staff's video tutelage.

"I think last year it was just more so of a run through," said Donald Sloan, explaining that in his first season with the Pacers, he felt there was less instruction. But now in the 2014-15 season: "It's more like, 'We need you here, we need you here, we need you here,'" Sloan said while imitating a coach breaking down players' roles.

"Kinda teaching guys who haven't been in that system as long as guys from last year's team."

Players like Sloan epitomize why the Pacers find so many teachable moments in the dimness of the video room. Sloan, a first-time and full-time starter, has filled in at point guard for the injured George Hill and C.J. Watson. Around him, players scramble in and out of new roles and at the beginning of the regular season, this unfamiliarity showed as the Pacers started out 1-6.

Then as the losses piled up, so did the lessons.

"We watch a lot of film. A lot of film. It's like going to the movie theater," Allen joked. "You'd probably get out of the movie before we get out of film, that's how long it is."

However, what may seem like marathon video sessions to the younger and newer Pacers is nothing but protocol for a veteran like West.

"We're not watching any more film than we have," said West, scoffing at the assertion that the Pacers watch copious amounts of video compared to when he arrived. "We watch film. That's what we do! I don't think it's any more than we've watched in the four years I've been here. (Vogel's) always been a film guy. It's the best teacher at times to see what you're doing, right or wrong, on tape."

Vogel got his start in the NBA with the Boston Celtics as the head video coordinator. In October, Vogel told Grantland how much he enjoyed the process of studying video, even now.

"It would be difficult to do if you don't like watching film. If you don't like studying the game, it would be hard. But I love watching the game," Vogel said in the podcast interview. "I love watching game tape. I can do it all day long and enjoy every minute of it."

Now leading his own team, Vogel has developed the routine of watching the opponent the day of the matchup – observe how they defend in the morning and their offensive sets and personnel tendencies during pregame in the evening. On the days after the game, when it's not a back-to-back as it was Tuesday, the Pacers will study themselves on video. They watch for passes and catches, good and poor screens as well as on-court chemistry and overall system operation.

"He's obviously teaching a lot more, trying to get guys acclimated to what we do, how we do things," West said. "(There are) even days when we said we're not going to go on the floor, we're just going to come in and have a lengthy film session. (Watch) part of it. We get a break. Stand up. Get something to drink. Come back in. But that's always been a part of who he is as a coach. The video doesn't lie."

As monotonous as it might seem to sit and watch video for hours on end, Vogel's sense of humor often comes through. When he wants to add some levity, Vogel will edit in a YouTube clip from one of his favorite comedies. Recently, he chose a scene with a young Chris Rock ordering one barbeque rib in the movie "I'm Gonna Git You Sucka" for no other reason than he found it to be hysterical.

"I think it's a historic scene, hilarious scene so we started our film session just by watching that, no message behind it," he said.

Though Vogel may not always moonlight as a starving comedian, his positive reinforcement during the video sessions makes an impression on players.

As CJ Miles began the year missing shots, Vogel constantly impressed upon him to keep shooting. When Roy Hibbert struggled through his late-season crisis, West said that Vogel never badgered the Big Dawg in the video room. The video never lies, but the added encouragement from Vogel always seems to work.

"He's found that balance where he can jump your (tail) if he has to, and he'll build you up if you miss 40 shots in a row," West said. "He'll say, 'I've got all the confidence in the world that you'll make those same shots.' It's not only telling him that but showing him in the video. It just does something different for guys. I mean, he's converted me because I wasn't used to that."

Follow Star reporter Candace Buckner on Twitter: @CandaceDBuckner.

PACERS AT SPURS

Tipoff: 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, AT&T Center, San Antonio.

TV: Fox Sports Indiana.

Radio: WFNI-107.5 FM, 1070 AM.

Pacers (6-8)

Projected starters

Pos. Player PPG Key stat PG Donald Sloan 13.4 4.9 apg SG Rodney Stuckey 10.3 2.4 rpg SF Solomon Hill 12.1 5.9 rpg PF Luis Scola 8.6 7.6 rpg C Ian Mahinmi 5.0 5.4 rpg 6th Chris Copeland 12.9 .348 3-pt FG%

Spurs (9-4)

Projected starters

Pos. Player PPG Key stat PG Tony Parker 16.8 5.2 apg SG Danny Green 11.2 .403 3-pt FG% SF Kawhi Leonard 13.6 7.5 rpg PF Boris Diaw 9.4 5.5 rpg C Tim Duncan 13.4 10.6 rpg 6th Manu Ginobili 10.6 3.9 apg

STORYLINES

In doubt: Center Roy Hibbert could miss his second straight game with a sprained left ankle since the Pacers listed him as "doubtful" for Wednesday. Without Hibbert, the Pacers found a way to aggressively defend as well as play their best offensive game of the season against Dallas. Though not a transition team, Indiana beat the Mavericks 17-4 in fast break points.

He said what?! "I think it's just in their character. These guys have been asked to wait their turn while they sustain their confidence in their own ability. They've been told that their time is going to come at some point, with injuries or with movement with your roster. We didn't have a lot of injuries last year so guys that are playing didn't get a lot of opportunity but this year we have a ton of injuries and they're getting an opportunity. They've been asked to wait their turn, they're getting their opportunity, they've stayed working on their game and they're taking advantage of that and they're being rewarded for their hard work." — Pacers coach Frank Vogel explaining after the 111-100 win over Dallas how his starless roster has beaten three straight quality opponents on the road.

Prediction: Think about this: it's only November and the Pacers have more road wins against quality opponents (Miami, Chicago and Dallas) than they had in the final 2 <AF>1/2<XA> months of the regular season last year. The defensive confidence and offensive swagger the Pacers have shown in those road games will be mandatory in the matchup against the defending NBA champions. Though San Antonio has a less than average scoring punch, just 97.1 points per game, the Spurs have rekindled their defense which ranks tops in the league in opponents points per game at 91.3. Also, the Spurs are 4-0 at home against Eastern Conference teams, making a fourth straight road win for the Pacers an arduous task. Though Indiana has proved that it's up for the challenge, the champs will end the underdogs' run. Spurs win 97-95.

— Candace Buckner