Pacers React to Postponement of Wednesday’s Game

The Pacers were in prime position on Wednesday to add another game of separation on Central Division foe Chicago. The Bulls, losers of two in a row by an average of 20 points, were playing their worst basketball of the season. They also just had a game the night before, on Christmas day.

Instead, the game was postponed due to weather conditions; Central Indiana received almost eight inches of snow. The postponement wasn’t a surprise, but the timing by the NBA was.

Both teams were ready to play. The Pacers were all accounted for and had made it safely to the Fieldhouse for morning shootaround. The team had hotel rooms so they could stay downtown after shootaround, rather than going home before the game. The Bulls were already in the arena by the time the decision was made — around 4:00 PM EST.

Although the Pacers were prepared and looking forward to the game, there was a reasonable explanation for the game being called off. Here are a sample of takes from the team:

Head coach Frank Vogel: “I think it was about 4:00, 4:15 PM (when I heard). I was just surprised that they waited that long. If they were going to cancel it, I thought that (the NBA) would cancel it earlier.”

George Hill: “I had no problem with it. It was just another good day of rest and very much needed after four games in five nights. Our bodies really needed it, especially with the hectic season we’ve been having so far.”

Paul George: “I was definitely up for the game. I was actually walking out of my door, getting ready to come over at like 4:15. Something made me look at my phone at the time and it said, ‘Stay home. The game has been cancelled.’ I was definitely ready to play. (Because) of the good game I had in Chicago, I knew it was going to be a challenge.”

David West: “It wasn’t a big deal. We knew we are going to pick the game up later, somewhere. The weather was too bad to make sense of risk getting to the arena.”

Roy Hibbert on twitter, simply: “Bummed.”