This should not have been happening.
The Pacers had slogged their way through a desultory first half, trailing 56-47 to one of the NBA's worst teams – an Atlanta squad that had won just three of 15 games, had lost six in a row, had lost by 45 points at Denver two nights earlier and had given up more points than any in the league.
And here they were, starting the third quarter the way they had finished the second. Giving up a three-pointer to Kent Bazemore less than a minute into it and then immediately turned the ball over and giving up a breakaway dunk to Bazemore.