The Pacers are in them middle of a somewhat embarrassing ‘race’ for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. It’s embarrassing because the ‘winner’ of this race will make the playoffs with a non-winning record, and is likely little more than a sacrificial lamb for the No. 1 seeded Chicago Bulls.

After showing progress last week that they might have turned a corner, the Pacers have followed up with two blowout loses to teams that were out of of the playoff picture back in December. Once again, the Pacers are imploding, and, once again, people are questioning their commitment and mindset:

: Not too sure about the Pacers’ mindset. Lance Stephenson was on the court putting on a dance show to Too Short during pregame warmups.

This is the same Lance Stephenson who shoved his girlfriend down a flight of stairs the summer of 2010. So much for the Pacers no longer drafting ‘bums.’

I don’t want these Pacers in the playoffs. They’d be an embarrassment to past Pacers teams who made the post-season. This is an awful team with a loser’s mindset, and they take their cue from their incompetent and inept team president, Larry Bird, who often makes excuses for the team under-achieving instead of generating results. As great as Bird was as a player and as a coach, he has been truly awful as a personnel manager. The only smart thing management did all season was fired Jim O’Brien, and even that decision apparently wasn’t Bird’s.

Strong rumors persist that Bird is a goner after the season, and the sooner this season ends for the Pacers, the quicker Bird can get kicked to the curb and this truly awful, overpaid team can get blown up and re-built.

Six straight years without a winning record, folks. This is as bad as this franchise was for the entire decade of the 1980s, when Indiana had just one winning season in nine years. Bird’s departure from the franchise should be made into a public event.