The Indiana Pacers played one of their worst games of the season and got crushed by the Celtics.
The game was a back-to-back. Myles Turner wasn’t playing. There are reasons to think this was an anomaly, but the Indiana Pacers looked horrible from start to finish in a demoralizing loss in Boston.
The Pacers looked lethargic for essentially the entire game. They didn’t close out well on shooters (the Celtics hit 14/32 threes) they didn’t box out (Boston won the rebounding battle 48-39) and they went through the motions on D frequently (they gave up 135). It was ugly.
The Pacers didn’t do themselves any favors. They shot 42.9 percent from the field and missed 12 free throws. They couldn’t get anything going, and the lack of effort really piled on to the missed shots. The Pacers looked noticeably frustrated multiple times throughout the game.
There were some silver linings. We got to see Alize Johnson, Edmond Sumner, and Aaron Holiday play. TJ Leaf actually looked pretty good:
On the bright side - TEEEEEJ: pic.twitter.com/D8UfSxjHG0
— Tony East (@TonyREast) January 10, 2019
Sabonis had 20 and 7. He did some good stuff on offense. But overall, mostly everything was bad.
The Pacers really miss Myles Turner
That’s 482 points allowed in 4 games without Turner, over 120 per game. That’s… really awful.
The Pacers needed him tonight. They needed someone to cut off drives and play solid drop coverage and call out everything. Without that player, everything is just a little worse. Tonight that problem was on full display.
The Pacers did not have a block
This is related to the first point, but the Pacers did not have a block in this game. They also did not have one against the Cavs last night. This has only happened 8 times since 2010 for Indiana, so two games in a row are really telling. They have struggled to protect the rim.
TJ Leaf has played well two games in a row.
After having 9 points on 4/5 shooting last night, Leaf had 8 points on 3/4 shooting and 2 rebounds tonight. He has looked useful and has surpassed my expectations for him. Hopefully, he can keep this up.
Player grades:
The Pacers play the Knicks in Madison Square Garden on Friday. Hopefully, they can make up for this abysmal performance.