Pacers rough roadie has team looking for answers in Dallas

Another yucky loss in San Antonio with a struggling star has the Pacers hunting for ways to turn their fortunes before heading home.

Every Pacers season of late seems to have what I refer to as a Stripes game. This usually occurs when things turn sideways due to injury, bad losses or some evil combo of the two.

Hopefully, the Pacers loss to the Spurs on Sunday WAS the Stripes game this season, which seems reasonable when you stack it with the thumping the Pacers took in New Orleans on Friday. Plus, Bill Murray’s body language in this clip has nothing on the vibes Tyrese Haliburton has been delivering while struggling through the past two games.

This is just a really bad two-game set, so it could be worse on the depression front. But, alas, the two brutal L’s with a rematch against the Mavericks looming on Tuesday night seems to have sucked all of the confidence out of this Pacers squad. Surely, the Pacers in general, and Hali in particular, won’t continue to shoot at the icy clip they have since leaving the Fieldhouse.

The offense was on a historic pace not long ago and now has slipped below the Celtics for the full season. I prefer to look at rolling 15-game segments which usually cover a month’s worth of activity. The Pacers are currently 8th in the league, at about four points per 100 possessions less than their season mark which coincides with their pace slowing down a bit since adding Pascal Siakam.

The Pacers made a sideways move at best when they dealt Buddy Hield, but it has become a big negative of late with both Ben Sheppard and Doug McDermott sidelined. Make or miss, Buddy didn’t miss games so without Shep, who is the heir apparent to that role, not getting those reps, it is a double whammy highlighting how Hield’s role is missed in the short term. But fretting over that is a fool's errand since the Buddy wanted out and the Pacers didn’t want to pay him going forward.

But the offensive adjustments are all on Haliburton at this time. Regardless of whether he’s not 100 percent healthy or not 100 percent behind the approach, the Pacers superstar, max player has to rise up and lead through the valley of adversity. This is a great developmental spot for a young superstar. Getting his team to the level he aspires requires a little edge when things aren’t going as planned, willing all around you to rise up instead of giving in.

TJ McConnell delivered an insane effort in this vein against the Spurs, pushing the Pacers back in the game on a couple of occasions while efficiently scoring 26 points from inside the arc. That same spirit seems to have been missing from Haliburton of late. If it is injury related, he may as well sit a couple of games to get right, because at this rate, the All-NBA hopes are slipping away. No since letting the playoff hopes run the same course.

Ideally, Hali will find his shot and give a boost to the Pacers offense which they still rely on heavily to deliver wins, even is the defense is slightly improved. The Pacers are 0-16 when they don’t score over 110 points and 2-17 when you move that to 115. The 207 combined points in the past two games didn’t come close to cutting it and hopefully are an outlier as opposed to a developing trend.

The Pacers put 133 points on the Mavericks just 10 days ago, riding a 33-point effort from Myles Turner and an impressive closing fourth quarter to run away from Luka and the boys. Hopefully, the Pacers can tap into some of that winning magic, again when they visit the Mavs in Dallas while trying to grow through the current adversity.

Remember, who can grow more than the Pacers? Talk about massive potential for growth. As a young team, they are still the little acorn that becomes the oak. Besides, if you give up on the Pacers, all of the plants are gonna die.

Game Details

Where: American Airlines Center, Dallas, TX

When: Tuesday, Mar. 5, 2024, 8:30 p.m. ET

TV: Bally Sports

Radio: 93.5/107.5 The Fan

Odds: Pacers +4

Projected Starters

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

Mavericks: Kyrie Irving, Luka Doncic, Josh Green, PJ Washington, Dereck Lively II

Injuries

Pacers: Aaron Nesmith (quad)- questionable, Ben Sheppard (illness) - questionable, Doug McDermott (calf) - out

Mavericks: Luka Doncic (ankle) - questionable, Derrick Jones Jr. (shoulder) - questionable, Maxi Kleber (knee) - questionable