The State of the Pacers… isn’t strong.

It is weak, in fact. Hampered by injuries, which have forced Indiana to dig deeper into the bench than they could have expected, the results have not been encouraging. Even if Indiana hadn’t balanced the budget and kept more offense around, it may have not mattered as the Pacers department of defense has slacked off as well.

Many questioned are now being asked. Should the Pacers tank? Who has a future with in Indiana? Should the Pacers make a trade for Miles Plumee?

The fans want answers, and they want them now.

The fact is there isn’t any signs it is going to get better until the Pacers get healthy as Indiana isn’t going to do much this season without George Hill or Paul George. No team is going to do very well missing their starting point guard and small forward. The Pacers have known they were taking a step back before the season began, but the effect wasn’t expected to be so drastic. A year ago the Pacers defense dominated and the offense got the job done, but now the script has flipped.

At the halfway point of the season the Pacers are on track to finish with a record below .500 and nowhere near a playoff berth… Well, the Eastern Conference is pretty bad and Indiana is only 3 games behind the 8th seed Brooklyn Nets, but even if Brooklyn falls out, there is little reason for optimism. With the Detroit Pistons on the rise in the post-Josh Smith era, Hassan Whiteside looking like a starting NBA center, and Charlotte is looking better with Lance Stephenson leading the bench, the battle for the 7th and 8th seeds doesn’t look as easy as it did just a few weeks ago.

We still don’t know if Larry Bird and company are ready to sacrifice this season while there is still hope for a playoff spot, but perhaps we will know soon.

The state of the Pacers isn’t strong, and it may be time to look to the future, but let’s take a quick look at tonight’s game against the Atlanta Hawks. Indiana has actually been more efficient than usual this year when they play Atlanta. The problem lies in the fact the smaller, faster Hawks will keep running and gunning their way past Indiana’s defense. The Pacers will get spread out and Atlanta will start picking them apart. When you look at the lineups the Pacers have used against the Hawks that many of them are shooting over 60% in effective field goal percentage. Unless the Pacers can find a way to force Atlanta into a more grind-it-out, half-court style of game, it looks like Atlanta will continue to be a the best team in the Eastern Conference.

Tonight’s Betting Line

As mentioned in our tanking roundtable, tonight could be a good night to start the tanking process, as Atlanta is a -11.5 favorite over the Pacers with a 192.5 over/under. Take the over and the Hawks, because this could get ugly.