The Indiana Pacers put on a show in Las Vegas for the in-season tournament. While they did end up losing the event at the hands of the Lakers, Indy put the world on notice that week with some really high-level play. Unfortunately, the Pacers have fallen off big-time since the IST Finals and now people are wondering where it all went wrong. According to their own coach, Rick Carlisle, it's all about their efforts on defense.
“Even dating a pretty girl gets boring after a while if she can’t guard anybody,” said Carlisle in a hilarious critique.
Carlisle took over the team in 2021 and they've been on the rise ever sense with Tyrese Haliburton, Buddy Hield, and Myles Turner leading the way. By all accounts, the Pacers are trending in the right direction but they lack some important features that every championship team needs... like defense. While they have been showing some amazing flashes offensively, Indiana is a disaster on the other end and it's exposed them to an ugly degree over the past few weeks.
A Massive Decline For The Pacers
The Pacers looked like a playoff lock in the early weeks of the season but their recent struggles have brought them back down to earth. Even after a two-game win streak, the Pacers are just 8th in the standings with a 16-14 record and they are just 4-6 in their last 10 games. When you look at the numbers for this team, it becomes clear what's holding them back.
With an offensive rating of 122.1, the Pacers are one of the best in the league at putting the ball through the net. They are also second out of all teams in true shooting percentage at .615 through 30 games. On defense, they are all the way at 27 and allow opponents to score a league-worst 126.1 points per game. Simply put, the Paces can't guard a traffic cone and until they show some fight and resistance in that category, they will never be a competitive playoff team, especially not against other Eastern elites like the 76ers, Bucks, and Boston Celtics.
Tyrese Haliburton Is The Future
No matter what happens on defense, the Pacers can rest knowing that they have their franchise superstar. Drafted 12th overall in 2020, Haliburton has emerged as one of the NBA's best point guards and its most elite-level playmaker. With averages of 24.7 points, 12.4 assists, and 4.0 rebounds per game on 50.2% shooting, Hali is having a career year and is on track to joining the ranks of the best players in the league.
Only time will tell how much ground the Pacers can make this season but nobody is ready to take them seriously unless they make some moves. With Tyrese and Turner as the cornerstones, the hard part is already done for franchise GM Chad Buchanan and now it's up to him to fill out the roster with the right-fitting role-players.
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