The Indiana Pacers lost to the short-handed Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday afternoon in their home opener in overtime by a final of 118-114.
They couldn’t rebound—an evergreen yearly problem at this point—to the tune of 25 second-chance points on 20 offensive rebounds for Philly. Every loose ball outside of the glass, the Pacers were too slow to get after, getting beat to almost every 50/50 chance compounding the rebounding issue with further lost possessions. They couldn’t take care of the ball for the second consecutive game, gifting their opponents 31 points. Even with all of these issues, they should have won this game. But add in 11 missed free throws including multiple in the clutch and it adds up to another bad loss early in the season.
Up by 5 with 1:33 left to go after Andrew Nembhard hit a 2-point basket, the Pacers would be unable to attempt another shot until they were down by 3 with seconds to go. Yes, you read that correctly. They took such bad care of the ball that in 90 seconds, they took zero actual shots and gave up 8 points on the other end. Haliburton tried to redeem himself from a missed technical free throw and two turnovers in that stretch with a miraculous 3-pointer to send the game to overtime but clutch issues came up again in the extra period. Caleb Martin mistakenly fouled on purpose with the Sixers only ahead by two points with five seconds to go but Haliburton missed the first free throw and then intentionally missed the second. Surprise, the Pacers didn’t get that rebound either. Game over.
After three games, the Pacers rank 26th in pace. They simply don’t look anything like the team from last season despite being essentially the exact same group of players. It’s a bizarre, concerning trend to start the year. Things don’t get any easier on the Pacers schedule either with the Orlando Magic up on Monday and the Boston Celtics on Wednesday. Brace yourselves, Pacers fans.
To the grades:
Tyrese Haliburton: D-
Pascal Siakam – B
Updated to a B, originally a C. Defense has been much improved compared to last year. Did he run out of gas or did the Pacers fall into their typical struggles of failing to get him to ball consistently?
Myles Turner – D
Aaron Nesmith – B+
Andrew Nembhard – C-
Ben Sheppard – B
Bennedict Mathurin – D
T.J. McConnell – C
Obi Toppin – C+
Jarace Walker – C
Isaiah Jackson – C
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