Pacers road woes continue
The Pacers dumped another game in Toronto, the first of three road games this week. Some front court help will reportedly join the Pacers in Houston.
The messy start to the Pacers season continued on Monday night when they lost to the lowly Raptors, 130-119. The loss dropped the Pacers to 2-6 on the road where they will remain for the rest of the week, heading to Houston to face the Rockets on Wednesday before going to Milwaukee on Friday.
Nothing is easy for the Pacers as they try to manage a bloated injury list which saw Myles Turner and Ben Sheppard wearing street clothes in Toronto. That had the Pacers playing without five of the top eight players in their rotation against a Raptors team that was also short-handed.
If we’re ranking rotation roles, the Pacers DID have three of their top four players and honestly, with the way Mathurin has been playing, three of their top three players. Sorry, Myles, but that’s where the Pacers are at. Also, to be fair to Mathurin, who once again delivered a late surge that gave the Pacers hope, I’d slot him in the two spot since the play of Tyrese Haliburton continues to be confounding, particularly on the road.
Hearing plenty of theories for Haliburton’s slow start which range between a variety of potential injury issues to adjusting to the pressure of playing on a max contract and the distractions that arise in that tax bracket.
Bottom line is that Haliburton leads the team in minutes played, and looked fine against the Knicks when he closed the game like a champ. The physical issues don’t appear to be a concern while he’s playing over 35 minutes per game. While Tyrese is shooting under 30 percent from 3-land and often appears out of rhythm creating shots inside the arc, his missing offensive reliability makes it hard for the Pacers to overcome, particularly when he continues to struggle on the defensive end.
The Pacers tried to rally with a three guard lineup that had TJ McConnell and Quenton Jackson pressuring the Toronto perimeter players, trying to speed up the Raptors and create a little chaos. The ploy worked for awhile, but is also a strategy that is tough to sustain since it relies on risk so far away from the hoop.
The Pacers were able to cut a large double-digit deficit to seven points in the fourth quarter. QJack missed a three pointer that would’ve cut the deficit to six, but missed followed by a Toronto 3-ball which sucked the life out of that comeback. On the plus side, Jackson did have one of the filthiest dunks you will see from a guard his size flying through the lane. Oh, and TJ delivered a nice transition oop for an Obi Toppin one-handed flush. Mere highlights in an otherwise overall lowlight for the season.
On to Houston.
Center help on the way
According to Shams, the Pacers will sign center Moses Brown to help fortify the front court with Isaiah Jackson and James Wiseman done for the year. The need for a big was glaring on Monday when Turner was a day of game scratch, leaving Enrique Freeman to start his first NBA game at center against a 7-foot problem in Jakob Peoltl.
At 7’2, 250ish, the 25 year old Brown is plenty big and can offer a strong presence against the rim defensively, as well as some rebounding. Brown averaged 3.4 points and 3.9 rebounds over 22 games for Portland last season. In four games with the Westchester Knicks this year, Brown averaged almost 19 points and 14 rebounds per game. Those numbers included his last game with the G-League Knicks on Sunday when he had 27 points and 16 rebounds. TJ Warren added 35 points and 11 rebounds in that games, which yes, the GKnicks won.
The Pacers have very little daylight in their available salary cap space, so the Pacers will sign Brown on Wednesday morning which would make him available. According to Bobby Marks, Brown will be a non-guaranteed deal, literally day to day at a $13,939 rate per day. While that works out well for the Pacers, there is certainly a major opportunity for Brown to try to establish himself in the league once, again. That would be a major bonus for the Pacers.
Life doesn’t get any easier for the Pacers on the road as they play the young and dynamic Rockets who will present plenty of matchup issues depending on how many players are available for the Pacers. Myles Turner and Ben Sheppard are the most hopeful to return. Anything they can offer would be helpful.
Pacers vs. Rockets
Where: Toyota Center, Houston, TX
When: Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024, 8:00 p.m. ET
TV: FanDuel Sports Network
Radio: 93.5/107.5 The Fan
Odds: Pacers +6
Projected Starters
Pacers: Tyrese Haliburton, Bennedict Mathurin, Jarace Walker, Pascal Siakam, Myles Turner
Rockets: Fred Van Vleet, Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks, Jabari Smith Jr., Alperen Sengun
Injurie
Pacers: Myles Turner (calf) - questionable, Ben Sheppard (oblique) - questionable, Johnny Furphy (finger) - questionable, Aaron Nesmith (ankle) - out, James Wiseman (Achilles) - out, Isaiah Jackson (Achilles) - out, Andrew Nembhard (knee) - out
Rockets: Jalen Green (illness) - questionable, Cam Whitmore (knee) - questionable
Bottom line for the Toronto game was they lost because Haliburton played terribly and Carlisle made some dumb decisions. Starting Freeman was idiotic. Not utilizing McConnell more was confounding. For Haliburton, the Pacers aren’t beating anyone when he goes 5-18 from the field and 2-9 from 3. Right now, he’s a crappy shooter.
Pacers lose on the road because Haliburton stinks on the road. His road v. home numbers are striking, which suggests he either isn’t focused enough when playing on the road or (more likely) his back injury - which the Pacers do not list on the injury report, as far as I know - flares up.