The Indiana Pacers are feeling it.
They have been the best team in the NBA to start the season — their defense is still suffocating allowing opposing teams to shoot just 37.5 percent so far (and giving 86.3 points per 100 possessions, best in the league by 5 points in this young season); while on the other end of the court Paul George has taken a step forward averaging 25.8 points per game and hitting 44.4 percent from three.
How good are the 5-0 Pacers feeling after a strong second half Wednesday where they outscored the Chicago Bulls by 33 and brushed aside their division rivals like so many gnats? Look at what George said about the Bulls to Steve Aschburner of NBA.com.
Good. If you’re a Pacers fan you want your team and its star player to have that swagger. You want them thinking they can win one more game than they did last year and reach the NBA Finals.
There are 77 games left and the top teams in the East, especially those Bulls, will look different then than they do right now with their slow start to the season. It’s too early to draw any sweeping conclusions.
Still, right now it looks like the Pacers are ready to take the next step in the East. And that should worry the Bulls and Heat.