Post-Game Grades: Indiana Pacers Go To London, Leave Their Win Streak There

The Indiana Pacers didn’t show up on Thursday as the Denver Nuggets destroyed them in London.

The Good: The Indiana Pacers should be well rested after taking an entire week off. If you count the game, three days of rest after today’s beating will help recharge the batteries.

The Bad: The Pacers played the worst defense of the season, giving the Nuggets a 135.8 offensive rating thanks to the complete lack of effort on Indiana’s part.

It was flat-out embarrassing. The Nuggets shot 57.1% from the field and 15 of 32 (46.9%) from the 3-point line. Denver’s bigs, in particular, Nikola Jokic, hammered away at Indiana without much resistance. The Joker’s 22 points, 10 rebounds, and 7 assists led the way for Denver.

The only good in this loss is it was somewhat explainable.

Indiana was on a five-game winning streak, creating a lack of desperation, something the Nuggets had as they were on a five-game losing streak. Throw in the weirdness of the time off, tempting fate, and having to play a game in London, and you have a recipe for a letdown.

That doesn’t excuse the performance, but it also is a reason to not panic and assume all the good things that happened recently are gone and never coming back.