Pacers blinded by LA spotlight, drop third straight

The Indiana Pacers fall to 0-3 on their West Coast road trip, falling to the hot Los Angeles Clippers.

The Indiana Pacers began their March gauntlet with an impressive home win over the OKC Thunder. From there on, we’ve seen nothing short of failure.

Indiana’s fatigue meter has been slowly climbing and it filled to the brim tonight, as the team came out sluggish against the Clippers. It was a similar story to the night before in Portland: Indiana conceded a 17 point lead early in the fourth, only to scrape their way back into contention.

Once again, they failed to take advantage of their opportunities when they had the chance to swipe a win. Down three twice late, they succumbed to the whims of Lou Williams and the poor treading of Bojan Bogdanovic‘s shoes (he fell to the floor twice in the final minute).

Turnovers and sloppy were again an issue for Indiana, as their 20 turnovers allowed LA to build a commanding lead. In typical back-to back-fashion, it took some time for Indiana to get their legs under them, as they committed two backcourt violations in the first quarter and another that went uncalled. It wasn’t a pretty night.

It was another stellar performance from road warrior Doug McDermott, who added 17 points off of the bench. When he’s involved and hitting his shots, the offense ticks up a notch. Tonight it was a noticeable one on another evening where many of Indiana’s usual offensive drivers struggled.

Point Tyreke Evans

With Darren Collison nursing an injured quad (the first game he hasn’t started all season), Tyreke Evans took over more of the creative duties. After starting the game on the bench, he finished the game because of his excellent play.

He finished the night with 19 points, eight boards, and seven assists, shooting an uncharacteristic 56.2% from the field. Some of his shenanigans were still present (the rim blocked his reverse layup, on one possession) but his offense was a welcome surprise on a night where it was much needed.

Doug McDermott sparks the offense

We’re giving McDermott his own section on back to back nights, as he has been one of the few bright spots over this tough two-game stretch. 17 points tonight is the third highest figure McDermott has reached this season (21 twice) yet only one of his buckets was from beyond the arc. He was lethal cutting and running off of handoffs and screens, uncorking runners on the baseline to throw off of the defense. Clearly, the Pacers’ offense benefits massively when McDermott is on.

A poor start to a brutal month

Indiana has started their exceedingly difficult stretch as one would expect, with a poor 1-3 record. The Pacers have looked to be a leg behind their competition and are only becoming more exhausted.

It took a miraculous comeback to take down the Thunder and they’ve had to do the same to even come close to Portland and Los Angeles. With a trip to Oracle up next, the Pacers will need to step up their play to retain home court in the playoffs.

The Pacers continue their odyssey into Hades’ domain on Thursday to take on the Golden State Warriors, hoping to end their three-game skid.