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Indiana Pacers backslide in this week’s power rankings roundup

By Ben Gibson

INDIANAPOLIS, IN - NOVEMBER 12: Domantas Sabonis #11 of the Indiana Pacers goes to the basket against the Houston Rockets on November 12, 2017 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by NBA Photos/NBAE via Getty Images)
INDIANAPOLIS, IN - NOVEMBER 12: Domantas Sabonis #11 of the Indiana Pacers goes to the basket against the Houston Rockets on November 12, 2017 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by NBA Photos/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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The Indiana Pacers dose of reality in the last week or so as games became harder to win. How far did they drop in the power rankings?

The Indiana Pacers are who we thought they were, and no one is letting them off the hook.

After early season optimism prompted talks of making a playoff run, the reality of the Indiana Pacers current situation was exposed. They are a young team for the most part, and young teams don’t close out games, nor do they win a lot of them to start with.

Indiana suffered their share of comeback losses in the last two weeks, but their loss to the Houston Rockets was the most humbling despite never being in control. The loss to Houston illustrates the gap between where the Pacers are and where they want to go.

As a result, the Pacers averaged a 24 from our batch of experts.

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On top of that, #SmallSampleSizeTheater is getting people to think that Myles Turner needs to give up his starting spot to Domantas Sabonis. Respectfully, no, that’s not a wise idea.

Outside of some of the obvious issues, moves like that have many second and third order effects. If you bench Myles and the Sabonis doesn’t make the starters better, that doesn’t just mean you can hit the undo button. That affects how players see themselves, how they believe the organization sees them, and a number of other issues.

If there is eventually a time and place where Sabonis deserves to replace Myles Turner or Thaddeus Young, you better be sure it works. If it doesn’t, you’ve got chemistry, trust, and a whole host of other problems to deal with. No player wants to feel expendable and throwing Sabonis in full-time as the starting power forward or center on a hunch isn’t worth the risk.

Let Sabonis earn his spot, don’t give it to him. With the way he is playing, he might just force Indiana into that decision sooner than we ever expected.

26. Victor Oladipo is doing with the Pacers what I thought Harrison Barnes would do with the Mavericks. He’s getting his on a nightly basis, and making some good impressions around the league. (Last Week: 24th) — <a href=. @KennyDucey. Sports Illustrated. KENNY DUCEY

23. Since Reggie Miller retired, Danny Granger and Paul George are the only Pacers players to average 23 points per game for a season. In his first year with the team, Victor Oladipo is on pace to become the third player to do so. <em>— Jose De Leon </em>(Last Week: 20th) — <a href=. @ESPNNBA. ESPN. ESPN

24. The early season optimism about Indiana is starting to dwindle. They’re 2-5 in November and defenses are expecting the scoring now. They’re still fun to watch, but it doesn’t look like they’re going to beat many good teams. (Last Week: 17th)— <a href=. @ChrisBarnewall. CBS Sports. CHRIS BARNEWALL

24. Since Myles Turner’s return, the Pacers are 1-5, with the only win coming against the Bulls on Friday. Before that, they blew three straight games that they led by double-digits, with second-half offense (81 points scored per 100 possessions) being a particular struggle. They’ve been the league’s sixth-best first quarter team (plus-10.4 points per 100 possessions), but have been increasingly worse in each subsequent period. Turner, Bojan Bogdanovic and Thaddeus Young have significantly better shooting numbers in the first half of games than in the second half. (Last Week: 21st) — <a href=. @johnschuhmann. NBA. JOHN SCHUHMANN

23. Victor Oladipo is still averaging a hearty 23.4 points, 4.3 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game on .467/.448/.833 shooting splits, but the Indiana Pacers are facing more realistic expectations after losing five of their last six games.<p>With Myles Turner not quite ready to burst onto the scene like some of his fellow unicorns in New York, Denver and Philadelphia, Pacers fans will have to settle for vintage hilarity from Lance Stephenson and nightly brilliance from Oladipo for the time being.</p><p>(Last Week: 22nd) — <a style=. @GeraldBourguet. Hoops Habit. GERALD BOURGUET

Next: Pacers Rank: Myles Turner doesn’t look comfortable on offense

Indiana’s next stretch of games takes place mostly away from home. Tonight they play the Memphis Grizzlies before a return home to host the Detroit Pistons on Friday. They head into the new week with a back-to-back in Florida with the Orlando Magic and Miami Heat.

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