Kravitz: The First Half Pacers aren't back yet

We've been here before, haven't we? Like after the home victory over the Chicago Bulls back on March 21 … and after the Pacers knocked off the Miami Heat at home March 26.

After both games, the Pacers and their fans (and even some media dopes like me) suggested the Pacers were back, they'd rediscovered their mojo, had begun their post-season push in earnest.

And then they got embarrassed, both on the road and at home, the nadir coming against the Atlanta Hawks on April 6.

So please excuse me today if I'm not proclaiming the heroic return of the First Half Pacers, the group that went 33-7 and 46-13 and made the cover of every magazine this side of Field & Stream. Please excuse me for failing to fully celebrate the Pacers' 102-97 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder, a team, we should point out, that is locked in as the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference and wasn't playing with any great cause in mind.

One game does not do much to alter the fact the Pacers are still 15-14 since the All-Star break and 4-8 in their last 12 games. It's one game, people. One game. And it was at home, where the Pacers always win, where the Pacers are supposed to win.

"I think we're on our way back to being us again,'' coach Frank Vogel said.

After all this, after all the struggles of March and early April, it's mind-boggling that the Pacers are one victory, or one more Miami loss, away from locking up the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference. Talk about your pop-gun war of attrition. The Pacers have been awful for months now, and yet, they can finish the job if they knock off the woeful Orlando Magic in Florida on Wednesday, or if the Heat lose Monday at Washington, possibly with LeBron James resting.

What's funny about all of this now is that the No. 1 seed, the Pacers vociferously stated goal from the start of the season, is now an afterthought. Vogel doesn't even want to talk about it, and the players have toed the company line.

Well, most of them, anyway.

"We're going to take it (Orlando) as a playoff game," said Lance Stephenson, who had his fifth triple-double and ran the offense from the point throughout most of the fourth quarter. "We have to get that No. 1 spot. That's what we wanted from the beginning of the season, so we have to take it.''

Thank you, Lance.

Thank you.

They need that No. 1 seed.

They just don't understand that yet.

"Coach (Vogel) has taken (the No. 1 seed) off the plate,'' forward David West said. "The focus has been on playing some solid basketball games — reestablishing our defenses, our constants, how we want to play the game and then let everything fall where it may. … It's more important for us to play the right way.''

West was asked if all the team's talk about earning the top seed adversely impacted them this season.

"I don't think so,'' he said. "Probably more what affected us was everybody writing and saying good things and patting us on the back. That stuff probably affected us.''

Excuse me, then, for writing something positive about Sunday's performance.

• The defense was staunch. The Thunder shot just 43 percent, 25 percent from behind the 3-point arc. Stephenson, who was switched onto Kevin Durant through much of the second half because of Paul George's foul issues, more than held his own.

• The bench was brilliant, playing its very best game of the season.

It's not a complete accident that the Pacers are 48-15 when C.J. Watson plays and just 7-11 when he doesn't play. Give Vogel credit for sticking with Watson down the stretch on a day when George Hill was quiet once again. Big days, too, from Ian Mahinmi and Luis Scola.

• Vogel showed he was willing to go off script and reward those who were playing the best basketball. That meant allowing Stephenson to run the offense from the point. That meant playing Watson and Mahinmi when it mattered most.

There were also some cautionary notes:

• George Hill followed up his no-show in Miami with another quiet game. He had just three points, no rebounds and two assists to go with four personal fouls.

• Roy Hibbert's shooting. He had great looks throughout the game, but as we know by now, once things get inside Hibbert's head, they tend to linger there for a very long time. He did, however, play zealous defense at the rim, which was a good sign.

• Turnovers. Twenty-three of them, leading to 21 Thunder points. Rinse and repeat. We've been talking about this since the Pacers continually turned the ball over in Game 7 in Miami last year, and the issue remains the same. It's a small miracle the Pacers were able to win a game against a team like Oklahoma City while turning it over 23 times and getting 12 fewer field-goal attempts.

Remember, we've been here before. March 21. March 26. Two games that supposedly signaled the slumping Pacers had turned the corner and re-discovered themselves. And it didn't happen.

We shall see.

Bob Kravitz is a columnist for The Indianapolis Star. Call him at (317) 444-6643 or email bob.kravitz@indystar.com. Follow him on Twitter: @BKravitz.