3 observations from the Pacers loss to Charlotte

The Indiana Pacers took a tough loss to the Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday. Let’s look back at some important things that happened in that game.

Sometimes, the Indiana Pacers surprise us all and clobber the Utah Jazz without Victor Oladipo. Other times, they play their 4th game in 6 nights and have no chance to win, especially without Oladipo.

The latter was the case Wednesday night, as the Pacers got smoked in Charlotte:

Mind you – the “4th game in 6 nights” comment is not an excuse. You play the opponent in front of you. Every team has some games on the schedule that have an increased level of difficulty due to nothing other than scheduling quirks. Having 4 games in 6 nights does cause a team to have tired legs, which was evident for the Pacers on Wednesday.

The whole team looked a step slow. Dwayne Bacon is an NBA player, and he is obviously faster than you or I. But compared to NBA standards, he probably has about average speed. That average speed was enough to turn Indiana’s tired legs to dust:

The Pacers tired legs push me right to my first observation from the game, so I will just start listing them. Let’s do it.

1. The Indiana Pacers played awful three-point defense

Charlotte hit 18/29 from deep. That’s a lot of makes, and at a great percentage. Sometimes, teams are just hitting tons of shots and there is little you can do about it. Such is basketball.

But that was not the case in this game. The Hornets three-point attempts were all great looks. As I just referenced, that ties into the Pacers tired legs. They couldn’t properly rotate on defense because they were a step slow mentally and physically on that end of the floor, and it led to wide open looks like this:

Everyone was a step behind their matchup as soon as the play started, and it led to a wide open 3 in the corner. This happened on multiple occasions, and the Hornets got a ton of easy points as a result.

The Pacers will surely clean this up with a bit of rest. Two days off this weekend will give them a chance to get their bodies to a place where they can exert more consistent effort. But this game was embarrassing from a perimeter defense standpoint.

2. Aaron Holiday is human after all

It finally happened. Aaron Holiday didn’t catch fire every time he stepped on the floor. It turns out he is not a superhero.

This is not an indictment on Holiday. He is a rookie, and very few players can shoot it as well as he did over the last two games for an extended stretch. Inconsistency is expected from him at his age.

And despite shooting 2/9. Holiday still showed some good stuff. For starters, he got to the line multiple times and converted all 6 of his FT attempts, which props up his efficiency numbers despite shooting poorly from the field. Getting to the rim has been a strength of his during his recent surge in minutes.

Additionally, Holiday rebounded exceptionally for his height. He grabbed 6 of them, which gives him a total of 16 in three games since Oladipo went down with an injury.  He has a penchant for fighting with bigger players, and he alertly follows his shot after many of his misses, which leads to positive plays like this even when he has an off night:

To top it all off, despite a rough night from the field, the Pacers were a +4 with Holiday on the court. He was able to find a way to be effective. But we did learn that he has flaws and is human, and being patient with him remains the best plan (it has always been that way but I will always reiterate that).

3. Domantas Sabonis has to stop fouling

The Indiana Pacers need Domantas Sabonis on the floor more. He’s been amazing this season and the Pacers do well when he is out on the court. The team is 6-2 when he plays over 24 minutes (aka over half the game).

Unfortunately, it’s hard to keep him out there when he fouls once every 3 minutes of play. He fouled out of this game in just 18:39 of playing time, and the Pacers were forced to change their strategy to adjust.

When he was playing, he was great. 15 points on 7/8 shooting, 6 rebounds, and 2 assists are a good game’s worth of stats, and he did it in 18 minutes. But he fouled out and that’s where his line ended.

Sabonis is up to 4.6 fouls per 36 minutes, a new career high. His defensive positioning needs to improve so he can avoid being forced to foul when he is beaten by his opponents.

Some of this comes from Sabonis being forced to play more perimeter defense when he plays next to Myles Turner. Domas’ defensive post positioning has improved this year, but he struggles mightily when he is forced to guard out on the perimeter in two big lineups. If he improves defensively out away from the basket, his fouls will naturally go down. In the meantime, he needs to just make sure he can stay on the floor. The Indiana Pacers need him.

The Indiana Pacers next game is at home against the San Antonio Spurs on Friday at 8 pm EST. They will look to sweep the season series against Gregg Popovich and co.