Many of their fans may have their eyes on the lottery but the players and coaches have other things in mind.
With 14 games remaining, it's far too late to think about the playoffs (the Pacers' tragic number for official elimination is down to four) but finishing the season on a positive note is a strong motivator.
And with 10 of the final 14 at home, they've got a chance to do just that.
"If people that are paid to win basketball games think about anything else but winning basketball games, it would show a tremendous lack of integrity, so we don't deal with that," said Coach Jim O'Brien. "Our guys are into trying to win basketball games. Our staff is into trying to win basketball games. The lottery will take care of itself. I understand the viewpoint of people outside of our team that can wish for whatever they want. I hope we win every game.
"The bottom line is when you're not playing for a playoff spot, then what do you play for? You play for pride. You play for trying to improve every day. The large majority of this basketball team has a good chance of being together next year. So we have a chance to grow every day we're together. We don't want to miss that opportunity."
The Pacers have been very competitive in their last three games, pushing Milwaukee and Cleveland to the wire on the road and beating the Bobcats at home. The final quarter of the Cleveland game was very telling as second-year players Brandon Rush and Roy Hibbert and rookie A.J. Price were on the floor as the Pacers cut an 18-point deficit to one before falling short, 99-94.
"Me, personally, I just want to get better and think about what you can do to position yourself better next year," said Hibbert. "And obviously you want to go out with some momentum. We're players and obviously we have pride and confidence in ourselves. Our record doesn't show it but we definitely want to win for ourselves.
"We've got 16 games left. Whatever new pieces come in, you don't want to have that bad taste in your mouth to carry over into next year. So going off on a good note and winning, hopefully we can build off of that with the new people coming in next year."
It's also important to remember, lottery fans, that there are no guarantees when it comes to position. That's why they call it a lottery; it's all about luck of the draw. It's something they can't control.
What they can control, or at least influence, is how they finish the season.
"I think it's important that this group grow as a unit," said O'Brien, "and there's nothing like ending the season feeling like you're improving as a group, that there's hope going into next year that you can sustain winning. So I think it's very important that we win."
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