The Pacers are in Portland no doubt still shaking their collective heads after letting a potential big win on the road in Denver slip away in the second half.
After an 18-point lead dwindled to three before the half, the Pacers came out and mustered only 15 third-quarter points. All that was easy early on, suddenly stumbled and staggered the Pacers into chasing from behind. Such lapses are always lethal for the Pacers who don’t play with the margin of error to overcome poor play at any point in the game, or as Nate McMillan puts it, not put together a full 48 minutes.