Indiana Pacers: 66-1

This.

. .this is going to get ugly.
Paul George is probably done for the year with a broken leg, and Stephenson is grazing at purpler pastures. Down their two best perimeter players on offense and defense, the Indiana Pacers are likely to fight in a large way.
Frank Vogel still has Roy Hibbert in the middle, and George Hill will continue to be one of the NBA’s better defensive point guards. So getting stops still ought to be a power for Indy, but scoring will be demanding.
Really rough.
Remember, this team ranked 22nd in offensive performance last year. After the All-Star fracture, just the Sixers’ scoring attack was less potent, per NBA.com. Taking away two of Indiana’s three leading scorers is going to make it nearly impossible to get buckets at anything better than a bottom-five rate.
Maybe Chris Copeland will stretch the ground with his shooting. Maybe Hibbert will turn into a bigger threat on the cube. David West might have yet another big year in him.
But even though all three of those things come to pass, it is hard to say they will compensate for losing George and Stephenson.
And in what may be the most terrifying harbinger of an offensive catastrophe to emerge, Donald Sloan leads Indy in preseason points each game and will be the starter at point guard for up to three months while Hill’s left knee mends.
Oh dear.

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