The Indiana Pacers played very poorly throughout the final two months of the regular season, and the trend continued in Game 1 of their playoff series against the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday night. Despite their disappointing play down the stretch, Indiana still secured the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference. You wouldn’t know it by watching them on the court.
Like many others, Charles Barkley is fed up with watching such a talented team struggle to score points. He went off on the Pacers on Sunday’s “Inside the NBA” halftime show.
“You guys talk all that noise all year,” Barkley said. “‘We want home court.’ Then you come out (Saturday) night and play like dogs.”
Barkley then complimented the Pacers for having a great front office presence in Larry Bird and a great head coach in Frank Vogel.
“But to come out and play like wussies the last month of the season, get a fresh start and then come out at home (Saturday) night… I was disappointed because I’m an Indiana fan,” he continued. “But to come out and play like flat wussies… Come on man, ya’ll are better than that. You’re embarrassing coach Vogel and the great Larry Bird.”
I’m sure Indiana fans feel the same way as Sir Charles. The No. 1 seed has lost in the first round just 8% of the time in the NBA playoffs, but the Pacers look incredibly vulnerable. They have seemingly had chemistry issues for a while and have lost their identity. With the way Jeff Teague played in Game 1, Indiana fans have every right to be concerned.
