Danny Granger, towards the end of Thursday's Game 6 (Getty Images)

What you've got here, Pacer fans, is an odd setup.

The Pacers are a young team, replete with veterans. The Pacers are an incredibly well-coached team, run by someone who made a lot of glaring and worrying mistakes in his first full year on the job. The Pacers have an intense and dedicated fan base, but recession concerns limited its attendance to that of the lower ranks in the NBA. The Pacers have the executive of the year who has had some pretty low lows in his time on the job as top executive, and he might not even be with the team next season. The Pacers have potential double-figure cap space this offseason, but might not use it — and it might not even know when it will get a chance to use it.

The Pacers, once the team and its fans pull themselves from the disappointment of the three-game losing streak that ended their season, have to regard this as a satisfying season. Eight seeds regularly give a top seed a good fight in the first round of the playoffs, and act as everyone's team to watch the following season — only to fall flat under the weight of expectation, bad luck or a regression to that 35-win mean. The Pacers, after acting as a tough eighth seed in 2010-11, made the equivalent of a 16-win jump in 2011-12's lockout-shortened season while moving all the way up to the third seed in the playoff bracket , and yet they're right to feel disappointed that they didn't give the Heat a stiffer challenge toward the end of their run. What happens from here, though?

LAMAR ODOM AND DWIGHT HOWARD DISCUSS OPTIONS. OPTIONS! (Getty Images)

Lamar Odom, master of his destiny and not at all a creature of habit and/or willing participant in whatever the heck Khloe Kardashian/E! Network/Ryan Seacrest Productions tell him to do, might want to play for the New York Knicks in 2012-13 and beyond.

Dwight Howard, ruler of worlds, might be as good as gone from Orlando this summer, because the Magic's ownership group appears to have soured on dealing with the guy.

Both rumors make plenty of sense, in basketball terms and in consideration of the respective players' personality, and history. Odom is from New York, cannot stand playing outside of major markets, and is ultra-sensitive who he runs with and under what circumstances. Howard, a year and a half removed from beginning to turn down contract extensions from the Orlando Magic, should have worn out his welcome with the team by now, and it makes sense for Orlando to have decided to move on. But, even in late May and just five weeks removed from the official start of the offseason, is any of this worth leaning on? Come on, guy.

Indiana Pacers forward and former All-Star David West is known for being a prickly sort. Not a dirty player or selfish teammate in the slightest, as the newish Pacer is well respected by foes, ex-teammates and teammates alike, working hard to carve out a niche in the NBA after entering the league in relative anonymity out of Xavier.

Also, he doesn't want to low-five you, ya punk kid. Check out West's -- I'm sorry -- hilarious reaction to the eight outstretched hands of various children and one adult in the hallway leading from the Pacers' home court back to the team's locker room. And, it should be noted, this video was taken at halftime, and before West's Pacers saw their season end with a 105-93 defeat at the hand of the Miami Heat. Watch, because it's so good:

Miami Heat 105, Indiana Pacers 93 (Heat win series 4-2)

A dominant five-day and 10-quarter stretch from the Miami Heat has put them back in the Eastern Conference finals for the second year in a row and the fifth time in franchise history. And the Indiana Pacers will be left to figure out just how they went from series leader after Game 3, with all the momentum on their side, to out of the postseason in just a week's time.

And the rest of the NBA is wondering just what doctor Dwyane Wade visited last weekend. Does he do other body parts and does he work on Friday afternoons?

It was an astonishing night for Wade, a player who has been beyond dominant during the Heat turnaround that started with the third quarter in Sunday's Game 4. Forty-one points for the All-Star, missing just eight shots in 25 tries while pulling in 10 needed rebounds for a team featuring big minutes for two of the best-defending-but-worst-rebounding front-court players in the NBA in Joel Anthony and Shane Battier. Most frightening was the way Wade was scoring, consistently going glass with a series of runners, not exactly taking and making bad shots, but taking and making tough shots. Gorgeous game from Wade, and after all our worry from last week, it's great to watch.

The Indiana Pacers discuss friends and foes (Getty Images)

A look around the league and the web that covers it. It's also important to note that the rotation order and starting nods aren't always listed in order of importance. That's for you, dear reader, to figure out.

C: Eight Points, Nine Seconds. A pointed look at the Pacers as they prepare for perhaps their penultimate performance.
PF: Vice. David Roth on Stan Van Gundy and the Orlando Magic.
SF: Magic Basketball. Eddy Rivera on Stan Van Gundy and the Orlando Magic.
SG: Orlando Pinstriped Post. Evan Dunlap on Dwight Howard and the Orlando Magic.
PG: True Hoop. Kevin Arnovitz: 'The unthinking brilliance of Tim Duncan.'

This Thunder fan is a huge supporter of Lazar Hayward (Getty Images)

It's a little too easy, in the wake of news like this, to point to "one bad apple" and declare overreaction. We're not law enforcement officials. We don't do this for a living. We weren't there and we don't know better.

Now that we've shown respect to the Oklahoma City officials that decided to cancel the outdoor playoff game viewings at "Thunder Alley" during OKC Thunder games, in the wake of the shooting that marred the team's Game 5 win over the Los Angeles Lakers on Monday, it does appear that the city might be overreacting. Thunder Alley will remain open pregame, so you get to slap on your facepaint and buy a Thunder-sanctioned something or other, but once the game tips off, according to Dan Mahoney, Thunder vice president of corporate communications and community relations, those without a ticket can then "go to their favorite viewing establishment to watch the game."

Not to the big outdoor screen, where a cast of thousands watched the Thunder play in the team's opening-round series against Dallas, and the group's triumph over the Lakers. Undeterred, Thunder fans at Welcome To Loud City are attempting to streamline fan efforts to swamp the OKC mayor and city council with requests that fans without a ticket be given the chance to continue to watch the game outside. Considering that sports fans are often as superstitious (if not considerably more) than the players who play the game, we can understand if there are some jittery OKC backers worried about what's going to happen when next Thursday's Game 3 (the first contest in the Western Conference finals to be played in Oklahoma City) tips off.

Shaquille O'Neal on the TNT set on Tuesday (Getty Images)

ESPN's Chris Broussard is reporting the Orlando Magic are likely to discuss their open general manager position with current TNT appear-on-TV'er analyst and former Magic center Shaquille O'Neal. I also just nearly made it to writing 40 words before collapsing into this:

LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL. LOL. Giggle, hee-hee, LOL.

Though the potential pairing would fly in the face of just about everything we've learned about the NBA, the Orlando Magic, Shaquille O'Neal and actual magic over the last few decades, Broussard insists the meeting could take place soon enough. Charles Barkley, on "The Dan Patrick Show" Thursday morning, even confirmed Shaq had told him he was set to interview. Here's Broussard's scoop, taken from his sources:

Doug Collins isn't mad, he's just disappointed (Getty Images)

Philadelphia 76ers 82, Boston Celtics 75 (series tied, 3-3)

The Boston Celtics' recent history of failing to close out series after series on the road is well-documented, but this is getting a little silly. The Philadelphia 76ers are certainly good enough to beat the Celtics in a series. They're a legitimate conference finals contender, even as an eighth seed considering that end of the bracket (which was designed for the top-seeded Bulls to play a mediocre Eastern team in the second round), and the Sixers are certainly good enough to stand their ground at home with the team's season on the line.

For the Celtics to lose like this, though? Giving up on offensive possessions in the half court once Philly took away an initial option, and refusing to run out after misses? This was disappointing. And unlike other Celtic eras, which would see the team head back home for a deciding Game 7 with a (relatively) younger roster, nothing is guaranteed in Saturday's Game 7. The game starts at 0-0, and the Sixers have all the promise in the world if they keep their wits about them.