Candace Buckner

The last time the Indiana Pacers stepped inside the AmericanAirlines Arena, their season was coming to an cringeworthy close in a 117-92 loss to the Miami Heat in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals.

On Wednesday morning, there were persistent reminders of how much the Pacers have changed since then. Both free agent pickups, Rodney Stuckey and CJ Miles, wore team apparel during shootaround, but it would be their only appearance as active players since both will miss the game. Stuckey (resting his sore left foot) out for his fifth game and Miles (recovering from a migraine) absent for this fourth straight. Three other injured Pacers (David West, C.J. Watson, Paul George) did not make the trip. What remains is a team with a 2-6 overall record, after recently snapping a six-game losing streak.

Still, in this midst of all this turmoil, the Pacers have found a way to remain consistent to their rebounding identity.

When the 2013-14 regular season ended, the Pacers ranked fourth in the league in defensive rebounds at 33.9. And as of Wednesday, this Pacers team - sans four of their top five rebounders from a year ago (George, West, Evan Turner and Lance Stephenson) are on the same pace as last season. Indiana currently ranks fifth overall with a 33.5 defensive rebound average.

Furthermore, as a team, the Pacers specialize in winning contested rebounds (38.6 percent), even pulling down 17.8 of those a night, which ranks second overall in the league. Overall, Indiana has 368 total rebounds (a 46.0 average), third most in the league.

Though the opposing teams that also claim the upper tier in rebounding - Orlando, Detroit, Houston, Sacramento - all have at least one individual averaging double figures on the glass, but the Pacers' leaders are Lavoy Allen and Roy Hibbert tied at 7.9 per game. Modest totals. And yet, still enough to maintain the Pacers' status as an elite rebounding team.

"We've always done it by committee, that's why I didn't understand fully a lot of the criticism Roy Hibbert took last year," Pacers coach Frank Vogel said. "I saw an article, Chris Bosh was talking about his rebounding and how he does all the dirty work and the guards come in and rebound. That's what we do. That's team rebounding. Our bigs wipe out the crashers and the guards come back, the bigs get a lot of them, too, but we have a team rebounding approach. That's what I would credit a strong team rebounding numbers to while not having one single rebounder."

Allen points to the team's re-commitment to the dirty work in training camp. Even with a new cast of players, the emphasis remained on the boarding buddy system.

"We worked on it at training camp, all five guys attacking the defensive glass," Allen said. "So, I think we've been doing a good job of it so far. I think everybody's in on it and that's why we've been successful."

Though Allen, a 6-9 forward/center, must play the role as Vogel described as the "offensive lineman" for a teammate to secure the rebound, he's been able to do more than just clear the way.

"I try to be a little selfish sometimes," Allen said with a conspiratorial smile.

On Monday, Allen pulled down a season-best 15 rebounds and he should have the opportunity to get a little selfish tonight in Miami against one of the worst rebounding teams in the league (38.6 per game).

Pacers at Heat, 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, FSI, ESPN