The Indiana Pacers look to bounce back in second preseason game

The Indiana Pacers opened their preseason with a loss to the Cavaliers.

After a long battle in the preseason opener, the Indiana Pacers came up just short against the Cleveland Cavaliers. In a game that was filled with turnovers and sloppy play, there were plenty of things to be excited about. The youngsters got plenty of minutes with the main rotation and saw valuable court time right off the bat.

Cassius Stanley, Edmond Sumner, and Aaron Holiday all played meaningful minutes in place of an injured T.J. Warren. The Pacers want to let the young players get involved early on, and seeing how they fit with the rotation is a great place to start the preseason. Aaron Holiday, who started in place of Warren, struggled with turnovers but showed his ability to create shots for himself and others.

The team is adjusting to a new coaching staff, which means they are going to have their ups and downs early in the season. Myles Turner was much more involved in the offense but looked a bit lost at times as he adapted to his new role. Once things begin to click, the Pacers could be a dangerous team in the Eastern Conference.

Indiana will play one more game in Cleveland before heading home for their first and only preseason game at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. When they meet up with the Cavaliers tonight, I am looking forward to how they respond after a loss, regardless of how irrelevant the game was. I am also curious to see how they stagger minutes among the big men once they get healthy.

With Myles Turner and Domantas Sabonis being the only bigs in the rotation for the majority of the opener, it was difficult for Nate Bjorkgren to spread their minutes accurately. Hopefully, that will change as they get some players back from injury.

If Goga Bitadze and JaKarr Sampson can provide minutes off the bench, the Pacers will be in much better shape once the regular season begins. If not, the Turnbonis duo may not play as much as we expected prior to the season.

Finally, the Pacers have to clean up the turnovers and shake off some of the nerves that come with the start of the season. Saturday’s loss was an ugly performance from both squads.