The Indiana Pacers were a little down Thursday afternoon as they worked through a practice at Cleveland State University.
After losing the night before in Chicago, their third loss in a row, the Pacers had slipped to eighth in the Eastern Conference standings -- and there is no missing the sullen feeling in the room. They'd been one of the hottest teams in the league for a month and suddenly their rhythm has been disrupted, causing some renewed frustration. In the moment and in the heat of the chase, it was easy and natural for them to lose perspective.
Looking at the big picture, though, and recognize that it's a bit of a miracle of hard work and circumstance the Pacers are even here.
It's amazing that Paul George is running up and down the floor in a contact practice and has been for weeks, even though his gait certainly looks a bit off as he recovers from that horrific broken leg suffered in a Team USA scrimmage in August.
It's wondrous this team is even discussing the playoffs when its players have combined to lose 195 games to injury this season after they'd missed a total of 69 last season. Before the first game of the season they'd already lost George, George Hill, C.J. Watson and David West to serious injuries. West wasn't right for more than six weeks. Hill didn't make his season debut until almost Christmas, and he has missed 39 games with injuries this season.
It's an achievement the Pacers are even relevant when it seemed like it was almost impossible for them to win a close game. In the first three-plus months, they were a woeful 2-11 in games decided by three points or fewer, all those narrow defeats hammering the team's morale in what was already a challenging situation. Already a team without any margin for error, the Pacers gave themselves zero wiggle room.
"The one thing we've learned this year is never to take winning for granted," said Hill, who has had a strong season when he has been able to shake knee and groin issues. "Losing is something we've hated to experience, especially when so many of us have had to sit there and watch so much of it."
Frankly, this team probably has no business being part of the conversation right now -- even with the qualification that it is part of the conversation partially because being under .500 isn't all that penal in the East. Yet here it is, still dangerous and mysterious with George's return seemingly drawing closer.
At 30-37 no one is throwing a party in Indy. But despite being without their top perimeter defender in George, the Pacers still rank No. 4 in defense, and that has given them a chance. They've been a poor offensive team for several years, and this season has been no different. They rank 26th with coach Frank Vogel routinely playing nine guys more than 20 minutes a night. They have stats like a college team, too. Hill leads the team in scoring at 14.7 points a game. But they play with more balance and ball movement than they've played with in any of Vogel's five seasons at the helm, and that could benefit them in the long run.
They certainly have the attention of their opponent on Friday, the Cleveland Cavaliers, who have lost to them twice in the past six weeks. The Cavs and Pacers are potential first-round playoff opponents, though Indiana is in the midst of a struggle to get one of the last two seeds heading into the final month of the season.
"They are a team that is equipped for the playoffs, there's no doubt," LeBron James said. "I know from going up against them [in the playoffs] the last few seasons."
After nothing but bad news for months, the Pacers did have a run of positive turns in February. In the span of two weeks they played the Golden State Warriors without Stephen Curry, the New Orleans Pelicans without Anthony Davis, the Cavs without James or Kyrie Irving, and the Oklahoma City Thunder without Kevin Durant.
It coincided with Hill's return to health, and when he has been on the floor, he has been having perhaps the best season of his career. They've also gotten a boost from Rodney Stuckey, who has proven to be a valuable scorer since he was moved to the bench.
"We needed a small lift," Vogel said. "They gave us a huge lift."
The Pacers are at the start of a stretch in which they play seven of eight games against teams currently in playoff position. The one in that bunch that isn't, the Brooklyn Nets, are on the Pacers' heels trying to get into the top eight.
Though the team and George are strategically staying mum on the subject, there is a reasonable chance George will be back in the near future. After he gave a few interviews over the All-Star break, when he raised the possibility he could be back by mid-March, the Pacers have had George apply the brakes on talking about his return. Last week he went so far as to say he wasn't sure if he was going to play at all, though all signs point to him trying to do so.
Forget what actual day he steps back on the court -- looking at this with perspective, it's hard to believe he's so close. Perhaps George was quietly optimistic at the time, but no one figured it would be a topic worthy of discussion back in August, when he was laying in the hospital in Las Vegas.
The Pacers aren't the real contenders they had gotten used to being the past few seasons, but they're outstripping what had become meager expectations. How they manage this challenging stretch will probably determine whether they make the playoffs.
Either way, this season is on the verge of being declared a success -- especially if/when George makes a long-anticipated return.
"The group has just stayed together, been professionals and showed a lot of resolve through all of this," the veteran West said.
"We know what type of basketball we've got to play and we also know we're still capable of it. We stopped feeling sorry for ourselves a while ago because we're not expecting anyone to feel sorry for us."