Pacers give away home opener to Sixers then hit road to face Magic

The Pacers continue to struggle out of the gate as the schedule continues to toughen up.

The Pacers let down a Fieldhouse crowd begging to celebrate a win in the home opener on Sunday afternoon, eventually letting go of one too many game winning opportunities to let the 76ers leave town with a 118-114 win in overtime.

The loss dropped the Pacers to 1-2 and revealed that this time barely resembles to team that was tied together in the playoffs last spring, despite all of the same players. Well, there were some familiar problems that showed up often in losses last season, in particular turnovers and chasing down rebounds. Whew, those issues were glaring against a Sixers team playing without Paul George and Joel Embiid.

The Pacers were outrebounded 54 to 37 by Philly, but 20 to 7 on the offensive glass which helped the Sixers outscore the Pacers 25-11 in second chance points. Both teams had 20 turnovers but the Pacers donations let the Sixers get out an run more often, leading to a 31 to 19 advantage in points off turnovers.

That’s for the game.

With all of that said, the Pacers were still up by three points with the ball and one minute left in the game. Tyrese Haliburton was stripped while starting to create on the drive which Philly cashed in with two Tyrese Maxey free throws.

So, now the Pacers are up one with the ball and 45 seconds left but eventually, Andrew Nembhard is stripped while starting to create on the drive which Philly cashed in with a Caleb Martin bucket.

OK…now the Pacers are down one following a timeout to set up a game winning opportunity. Again, Tyrese Haliburton is stripped of the ball before being able to create even a shot opportunity and it appears the Pacers have literally given away the game in three consecutive possession without even generating one field goal attempt.

After two more Maxey free throws, Tyrese Haliburton made a wild, double-pump three pointer to tie the game. Honestly, as he shot it, Tyrese appeared to be trying more to generate a foul (and maybe an excuse, if he missed) but of course, he is quite good at the high degree of difficulty buckets which generated a fleeting highlight for all in the ‘House.

In OT, the both Myles Turner and Haliburton had a chance to tie the game at the free throw line, but were unable to make two. For the game, the Pacers missed 11 free throws. Honestly, Philly struggled, as well to seize all of these opportunities, but they were unable to give it away as effectively as the Pacers. Just a rough game to see slip away in the home opener.

Prior to the game, Carlisle mentioned his desire to tighten the rotation after using 11 players in the first two games, which included a platoon of Jarace Walker and Ben Sheppard. The reserves struggled in the first half, in particular, Benn Mathurin had a series of bad off ball defensive lapses. Carlisle then went through a few combos, desperately trying to find some combo that would work.

For awhile, it appeared Aaron Nesmith may be sliding out of favor, but he returned in the fourth quarter to make some impactful plays, including a monster dunk and one, along with a couple of tough rebounds in traffic (which was rare for the Pacers). Where Carlisle goes with the rotation at this point is anyone’s guess, but the situation surely isn’t settled.

On to Orlando

The Pacers had to take the L and catch a flight to Orlando where they play the Magic on Monday night, in what is the definition of a schedule loss. Rick Carlisle has talked about the Pacers trying to improve their positional size, a reason they are trying to work Jarace Walker into the mix at small forward. Well, the Magic deliver a perfect mix of positional size across the board with talented players with length and a mix of offensive weapons and defensive stoppers. Never a good matchup on paper for the Pacers. Hopefully, the blue and gold can find some magic of their own in Orlando along with a way to win.

Pacers vs. Magic

Where: Kia Center, Orlando, FL

When: Monday, Oct. 28, 2024, 7:00 p.m. ET

TV: FanDuel Sports Network

Radio: 93.5/107.5 The Fan

Odds: Pacers +7

Projected Starters

Pacers: Tyrese Haliburton, Andrew Nembhard, Aaron Nesmith, Pascal Siakam, Myles Turner

Magic: Jalen Suggs, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Franz Wagner, Paolo Banchero, Wendell Carter Jr.

Injuries

Pacers: James Wiseman (Achilles) - out

Magic: Tristan da Silva (illness) - out, Jonathan Isaac (hip) - questionable