Pacers declining on defense, fading to 6th straight loss

The Indiana Pacers moved through various emotional states while watching Houston Rockets guard James Harden play his game Monday night.

Exasperation as Harden swung through their active hands on defense and walked to his favorite spot inside Bankers Life Fieldhouse – the free throw line.

Irritation when Harden finished the Rockets' 110-100 victory with three more free throw attempts than the Pacers had collected as a team, a fact that coach Frank Vogel made sure to highlight to an official after the buzzer.

And ultimately, appreciation for an opponent unlike any other in the NBA who can draw 11 personal fouls, shoot 22 free throws, score 44 points and singlehandedly cause a long night to drag on into a nightmare with no end in sight for a team fading as fast as the Pacers.

"Only guy I can remember who's probably harder to officiate since I've been in the NBA has probably been Shaq," David West said. "I don't know if there's been a guy who's been able to draw the type of fouls that he does."

Indiana (30-40) dropped its sixth straight game and has slipped to the 10th position, out of the playoff picture when only two weeks ago they were eyeing the sixth seed.

"Frustrated but understanding that our goals are still within reach," Vogel said about his players' temperament after the loss. "We just have to focus on the process. Not the outcomes, not the standings, any of that. Focus on what's going to get us our next win."

Certainly, better defense should be on that checklist. Besides Harden's unique ability to hit 21-of-22 from the free throw line, which set a Pacers' franchise record for most made by a single opponent, the Rockets also burned Indiana from deep as they tied an opponent season high of 13 3-pointers.

These numbers should sound familiar: the Pacers are sliding because their defense is declining. On Saturday, they allowed the Brooklyn Nets to hit a 61.3 field-goal accuracy, the highest allowed by a Pacers team ever. The past five games, four opponents have reached the 100-point mark and over that stretch, the Pacers have averaged 22.2 personal fouls per game, seventh highest among their peers.

"I'm going to give you a real answer, not a (B.S.) answer," Roy Hibbert said, before offering his opinion on what has been ailing the defense. "I think that sometimes we take the easy way out.

"In the years past, we've been able to earn no calls and get stops," Hibbert continued, "and I think the easier way out has been to foul, myself included. I haven't done a good job guarding my own man and sometimes my help rotation is not as good as it has been. Sometimes we foul and that's what's leading the guys to shoot a lot of free throws."

Vogel answered in the affirmative when asked if the early fouls – Harden earned nine free throws in the first quarter – disrupted the Pacers from finding a defensive rhythm. However, there are more problems. The Pacers have not been tied together on that end.

During a Rockets' half-court set near the 8:55 mark of the third quarter, Harden, losing Solomon Hill after a high screen, attacked the lane and dunked as the team defense waved a white flag. After allowing Harden the easiest points of his night, two Pacers immediately looked at the bench. Another pair – C.J. Miles who stood frozen near the top of the free throw line and Hill – looked at each other. And not one looked to be on the same page.

Even off the court on Monday, the Pacers didn't seem to read from the same script.

On the ever-evolving Paul George comeback, Pacers president of basketball operations Larry Bird made several comments to an ESPN reporter, including: "I think he's cleared by the doctors to play." Later, Vogel offered the opposite: "There's a lot of layers to that, so he hasn't been cleared to play for us."

Vogel, who has had to face daily questions about a possible return more than the player and the president, repeated that George was cleared to practice. When told that Bird mentioned the clearance was to play, which would be a dramatic difference, Vogel replied: "Well, that's what Larry said."

"Like I said," Vogel continued, "there's a lot of layers to it. He's not ready. He hasn't reached our level of what we feel he's ready to play."

While George still expects to play this season, he could return to a team closing in on a season without a playoff berth. For the past six straight games, the Pacers have been in a funk and they only have a dozen more games to figure out how to break out of it.

"We're still fighting. We're talking, we're communicating but I thought we've run into some unique situations starting with the Boston game," West said. "It sort of just snowballed from there. Just haven't been able to get ourselves back in the trenches and solid enough to win games.

"We just haven't played well enough to win and it's really tough."

Call Star reporter Candace Buckner at (317) 444-6121. Follow her on Twitter: @CandaceDBuckner.