Hunting for positives after Pacers leave Golden State with 1-9 record

The Pacers dropped their fourth consecutive game as their road trip moves on to Utah.

The Pacers took another L, fading over the last quarter and a half, eventually losing 114-83 to the Warriors with Steph Curry taking the night off. Once again, the Pacers shot below 36 percent from the floor, this time 34 percent while playing without Pascal Siakam and Aaron Nesmith, along with the usual bloated injury list of players.

There were some snippets of good news to come from this game despite the dire situation that has the Pacers still with just one win in their first ten games. For starters…the first ten games are over!

Prior to the season and the vicious rash of injuries, the difficulty of the first ten games loomed large with only the Nets game appearing like best chance for a W on the schedule. So, the Pacers have gotten past several tough Western Conference games including the season series against the Warriors, plus OKC and at the Nuggets, Timberwolves, Grizzlies and Mavs. While we now know the Mavs and Grizz are fighting a similar battle to the Pacers, at least the rematch will be at the Fieldhouse.

So to recap the schedule ‘good news’ after a 1-9 starts…the difficulty begins to normalize which only helps if the team’s playing rotation also begins to normalize.

The good news is that it appears things are progressing in that direction. Andrew Nembhard has returned to action and made it through a challenging back-to-back over the weekend despite still rehabbing his three-point shot. TJ McConnell has been upgraded to questionable for the game in Utah. Hopefully, Benn Mathurin and Johnny Furphy will return soon over the next couple of weeks.

So to recap, the health of several injured players continues to improve and adding those quality players back to their spots in the rotation is certainly good news.

As for the game itself, the good news was hard to find, but there was a glorious five and a half minute stretch in the third quarter when it appeared the fog may be lifting and the basketball gods had said, “OK, that’s enough. Have some fun.”

The Pacers were down 48-41 at the half and at the 11:19 mark of the third quarter, Andrew Nembhard drained a 3-ball after missing all six of this 3PAs in the first half. A minute later, Nembhard his a step-back 30-footer for another three. Pacers down four.

After a couple of defensive stops, Ben Sheppard drained a 3-ball to cut the lead to one. What?!?! Has Nembhard broken then seal on the hoop?

Jay Huff followed with a pair of threes of his own as the Pacers briefly took a 60-59 lead after a pair of Tony Bradley free throws.

Alas, good times didn’t last and the hoop ziploc seal returned to the hoop…but for a moment there in the third quarter, the combination of defensive stops and some actual shot making was enough to create a positive sensation.

Then the Pacers were unable to keep up over the final 17 minutes of the game, remaining offensively challenged with their super short-handed crew. The Pacers now have the worst offensive efficiency in the league while their defense, which had an amazing impact in that third quarter stretch, is middle of the pack, tied for 15th.

Seems like every year recently, with the Pacers elite offense in the top ten of the league, we often lamented that if the Pacers defense could just be decent in the middle of the pack, they would have something. That started happening last year and they DID have something. At least the defensive effort remains strong regardless of who is on the court.

With Siakam and presumably Nesmith back with Nembhard, we’ll see if the Pacers can generate some better offense while maintaining the decent defense with they take on the Jazz.

Pacers vs. Jazz

Where: Delta Center, Salt Lake City, UT

When: Tuesday, November 11, 2025 - 9:00 p.m. ET

TV: FanDuel Sports Network

Radio: 93.5/107.5 The Fan

Odds: Pacers -2.5

Projected Starters

Pacers: Andrew Nembhard, Aaron Nesmith, Jarace Walker, Pascal Siakam, Isaiah Jackson

Jazz: Isaiah Collier, Keyonte George, Svi Mykhailiuk, Lauri Markkanen, Jusuf Nurkic

Injuries

Pacers: TJ McConnell (hammy) - questionable, Taelon Peter (groin) - questionable, Quenton Jackson (hammy) - out, Johnny Furphy (ankle) - out, Obi Toppin (hammy) - out, Bennedict Mathurin (toe) - out, Kam Jones (back) - out, Tyrese Haliburton (Achilles) - out

Jazz: Walker Kessler (shoulder) - out, Georges Niang (foot) - out