Pacers Grew a Lot in 2018

A year ago at this time, the Pacers had just lost a home game to Minnesota by 17 points, a fourth consecutive loss that dropped their record to 19-18. Victor Oladipo wasn't playing, but they also were missing a sense of urgency and polished cohesion.

"We got to figure it out, man," Al Jefferson said after that game.

Now here we are at the close of 2018 and the Pacers just won their fifth consecutive game to improve to 25-12. They don't claim to have figured it out, but their growth has been superior to what anybody would have predicted a year ago. They won 54 games in the calendar year and are on pace to win more than that this season, although the schedule will be more difficult the rest of…