Pacers lose home opener, fall to 1-2
By TYLER SMITH (@TylerSmith_ISL)
ISL Editor
INDIANAPOLIS — This is not what the Pacers had in mind.
After being the road guests for two home openers last week, it was Indiana’s turn to play in their own building on Sunday. The rally towels were out, and the fans were ready. Unfortunately, the early season excitement has quickly turned to head-scratching disappointment, as the Pacers fell in overtime to Philadelphia, dropping to 1-2 on the young season.
“Rebounding and turnovers,” said Head Coach Rick Carlisle after the game. “That’s going to be the answer to almost every question.” Carlisle continued: “In all three games, rebounding and turnovers have been the story. That’s possession of the ball. We’ve got to be better. We’ve got to find a way.”
For whatever reason, the Pacers have looked like a team that had a lot of roster turnover. The offense looks disjointed, and it doesn’t resemble anything close to a team that brought everyone back from a playoff run a mere five months ago. Where is that ball-popping run-and-gun offense we’ve grown accustomed to?
If you’ve followed my work at all over the last 12 years, you would know I’m usually the optimistic (and realistic) one, and I’m often trying to bring perspective while talking fans off the proverbial ledge when things go wrong. However, it’s understandable to be extremely disappointed with this 1-2 start. This team gave away multiple games last season and the hope was those kind of moments wouldn’t be so common this time around. Yes, the team went to the Eastern Conference Finals, but they were also the sixth-seed because of all of those games they gave away throughout the year.
“There’s 79 more,” said Tyrese Haliburton on Sunday. “It sucks. To act like I’m not going to replay it the rest of the evening is probably not true. But the sun’s gonna come up tomorrow and we’ll have another chance to compete.”
He’s right. There are 79 more games to play. In a few weeks, this team could find its groove and make fans forget all about these early games. Or, it could turn into another season of missed opportunity and regret if they don’t figure things out sooner rather than later.
Haliburton hasn’t looked like himself in the early going. He did have a huge moment on Sunday, sending the game to OT on this play:
Haliburton then had two key turnovers in overtime, and missed the free-throws that would have tied the game. Even the best shooters can go through slumps, but the assist numbers have been alarming. Through three games, the NBA’s assist-leader from a year ago is only averaging 4.5.
Rick Carlisle isn’t worried about his star point guard. “I have zero concern about Ty’s shooting,” he said. “We need to do a better job as a team playing with the right level of force.”
Another reason a loss like this hurts: things don’t get any easier from here. The Pacers play in Orlando on Monday night before hosting the Boston Celtics on Wednesday. This team could be staring at a 1-4 start.
Make no mistake about it: The NBA is hard. Winning isn’t easy. Every team you face has major talent and can win on any given night. You just hope the Pacers can figure things out quickly so they can have the best chance possible at another post-season run. Ever since Media Day, this team has been saying all the right things.
“We’re hungry.”
“Last year doesn’t matter anymore.”
“We’re out to prove last year wasn’t a fluke.”
“It starts with defense.”
It’s only been three games. But so far… the words have been empty.
I’m confident things will turn around. I’m confident this will be a good season for the Pacers. For the here and now, Haliburton said it best: “It sucks.”
