Looking For Positives in an Eight-Game Losing Streak

The Indiana Pacers are in a slump. An eight game one, to be exact.

After beating the Orlando Magic on Nov. 29, it has been a rough stretch of games for the Pacers despite playing the majority of their opponents very closely. That has been the narrative so far this season with Indiana: Good enough to compete, not good enough to win. It doesn’t help when you get one player back with David West, only to see Ian Mahinmi go down with a major knee issue while C.J. Miles was also headed to the trainer’s room with a less serious knee issue of his own.  This Indiana team would be struggling to get wins even with a mostly healthy roster, but with so many starters and backups on the mend, it isn’t making things easier. It not just lacking the bodies to fill the lineup either. The Pacers have had to throw out eight different starting line ups so far this year through 24 games, and that gives little chance for any chemistry to form. We saw earlier in the year how apparent that was when a veteran like Luis Scola was just throwing random passes to no one in particular, trying to predict their movements but reading his new teammates entirely wrong. There has been less of that as the season wore on and rust was shaken off, but you have to think the changing rotation isn’t allowing anyone to get settled any quicker.

But there have been bright spots during this losing streak too. Both C.J Watson and C.J Miles (before his injury) were making their cases for increased minutes thanks to their strong play. Damjan Rudez is actually starting to look a NBA player and has been playing better than the slumping Chris Copeland. George Hill is starting to look like he’ll actually play before the New Year, but that isn’t for certain. There is even a small possibility that help is on the way in the form of and old friend: Lance Stephenson.

Ignoring that trade possibility or any others, the return of George Hill will help the Pacers get a step closer to the team we expected them to be this year, even after Paul George’s injury. It has been a strange season with so many pieces moving in and out of the line up, but any return to normalcy should help settle this Indiana Pacers team.

This was by far one of the worst performances of the year by Indiana, and certainly not one the games where they played competitively. Al Horford’s 25 points led the way for the Hawks followed by Jeff Teague with 21. There were no positives to take away from this one.

The reserves of the Pacers were about the only thing that kept Indiana in this game. While all of the starters posted +/-‘s in the negative 20’s, the bench players were able to be a positive force, almost entirely counteracting a starting group that just wasn’t clicking. But with the starters playing that poorly and an extended scoring drought, the Clippers took the win.

It had been a close game and the Pacers were setting themselves up to make a run at getting a win on the road. Then the four quarter happened. Lou Williams and Greivis Vasquez played well throughout the game for the Raptors and made sure to send Indiana back across the border with a loss.

It is getting depressing writing about all these losses, but Indiana ended the week with a better defensive showing by holding Portland under 100 points. The Trail Blazers are the only team in the last six games the Pacers held under 100 points, and Indiana did it twice. But with the lack of any offense late in the game, it was destined to be Portland’s victory.

In short, the Pacers just aren’t playing good basketball right now. If it isn’t their defense, it is the league’s 23rd ranked offense bring them down. If you think trying to bring Lance Stephenson back is crazy, just remember all the extended scoring droughts in these games.

Worth a read: What We Learned About The Indiana Pacers: Week 7

Also worth a read: What Would a Potential Lance Stephenson Trade Look Like?