When a no-excuses guy like Jim O'Brien plays the fatigue card, as he did after the Pacers were beaten 107-97 by Philadelphia on Saturday night in Conseco Fieldhouse, it merits a second look.
"Our guys were exhausted," he said, "and they should be."
O'Brien went on to point out the scheduling facts: in a 37-day period beginning Dec. 18, the Pacers played nine sets of back-to-back games. Saturday's game concluded their third stretch of four games in five nights.
To be sure, it was an unusually intense five-week stretch. Philadelphia, by comparison, played four back-to-back sets and did not have any four-in-fives in the same span.
"We had an easy schedule from the standpoint of the number of games at the beginning of the season," O'Brien said. "And then when you get whacked, where you play that many games, that many back-to-backs, that many four-games-in-five-nights in a short period of time, it takes its toll, there's no doubt about it. You've got to play it. You've got to win games. You've got to go after it."
In the first 46 days of the season, the Pacers played four sets of back-to-backs and no four-in-fives. They went 9-14.
In the next 37, when the schedule compressed, they went 6-15, including a 1-11 mark in the four-in-fives.
It isn't just a matter of the physical stress of the game schedule. It's also about a lack of practice. O'Brien said the team had just seven practices in that five-week stretch.
"Consistency, I think we would all agree, is a product of practice," he said.
Looking ahead, the Pacers have eight remaining sets of back-to-back games and just one stretch of four in five the rest of the season, so the schedule does decompress. It's up to the Pacers to make the most of the opportunity.
Pacers have rematch in Philadelphia
In another scheduling quirk, the Pacers play the same team in consecutive games for the first time in two seasons when they have a rematch with the 76ers tonight in Philadelphia.
"Every once in awhile you get a situation like this," O'Brien said. "Certainly losing leaves a bad taste in your mouth. We're forced to take a day off from practice because our guys couldn't practice (Sunday) if they tried. So we'll get back to work in our shootaround on Monday and see if we can't put a better effort together."
During the 2007-08 season, the Pacers faced the same team in consecutive games five times, sweeping Milwaukee, splitting with the Nets (twice) and Warriors and getting swept by the Pistons.
"A lot of teams will make a lot of adjustments, mostly us because they feel like whatever they did worked," said Earl Watson. "I'm sure we're going to make adjustments. Elton Brand played great. He really anchored their team.
"I think we'll find ways to obviously try to get the ball out of his hands and make him less aggressive. At the same time, we have to play similar to the way they played. We have to impose our will. We have to play determined basketball."
The Pacers will play Toronto in consecutive games Sunday (road) and Tuesday (home).
