Pacers Only Jump Slightly in NBA Power Rankings Despite Recent Winning Ways

Despite the Pacers' strong play, they only slightly rise in these power rankings.

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The Indiana Pacers won five straight games and six out of seven prior to taking on the Thunder on Thursday evening. They were one of the hottest teams in the league. During that span of seven games, the Pacers had the seventh-best defensive rating in the league.

That defense was not able to carry over against the Thunder, who are the best team in the Western Conference. Oklahoma City was able to come into Indiana and beat the Pacers 120-114 thanks to a heroic effort from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. He had 45 points in this game.

On Indiana's side, Tyrese Haliburton was horrible in this game. He took just six shots and scored only four points. It's clear that when he doesn't look to score, the Pacers lose games. Still, they have generally been playing really good basketball in the middle of a brutal schedule.

Despite that stretch of great play, Bleacher Report doesn't think they deserve to be one of the best teams in their most recent power rankings. In those power rankings, the Pacers rose just one spot from 20th to 19th. Indiana has been playing a lot better than the 19th-best team in the NBA.

The Golden State Warriors are ranked a spot ahead of them, a team the Pacers beat in that five-game winning streak. So too are the Phoenix Suns, another team the Pacers beat during their winning streak. Those two teams being ahead of the Pacers doesn't make much sense.

The Pacers have a real shot to make up some room in the East in the next couple of games. They have back-to-back games against the Celtics. If they can somehow win both games, including one of them being on the second night of a back-to-back, that would give them a ton of confidence.

Of course, Haliburton can't be as bad as he was against the Thunder in order to win either of those games. The loss of Obi Toppin doesn't help either. He sprained his ankle against the Thunder and will miss Friday night's game against the Celtics. There's hope he can be back for the second game against Boston.

The Indiana Pacers need to get healthy. They are still without Aaron Nesmith, who hasn't played in almost two months. Toppin's injury doesn't look too bad, so that's positive. Health and better play from their star guard should have them shooting up those power rankings soon.

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