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Paul George is worried about the Indiana Pacers again. After their 111-98 loss to the Washington Wizards on Thursday, the All-Star forward made it clear that he hopes there will be a different feeling around the team after the break.

“Just a spark,” George told reporters, via the Pacers’ official Twitter account. “Just more energy, more excitement. I think it’s like a cloud over us right now, a dark cloud where we’re just, we’re coming into the arena not expecting great things. And we gotta change that. I think, the second half of the season, that’s what we need to change.”

It gets worse, via NUVO’s Jon R. LaFollette:

And whether you take this as an indictment of the players or the coaching staff, it is extremely troubling:

The Pacers have had a wild season. They started out poorly, fought back to .500, hovered around there for a while and then won seven games in a row starting in late January. Then, as soon as they started feeling good about themselves, they hit a rough part of their schedule and lost six games in a row. Less than two weeks ago, George was talking about a “dark moment” he had earlier in the season and an epiphany that led him to enjoy the moment and be happy. Now, there is a “dark cloud” and Indiana lacks energy.  

In the big picture, the Pacers aren’t in a horrible place. At 29-28, they are still sixth in the Eastern Conference. The up-and-down nature of their performance, though, appears to have taken its toll on their best player and the locker room in general. Everybody must be glad to have a break from all this.