3 biggest takeaways from the Pacers’ preseason win over the Hornets

The Indiana Pacers made their preseason debut last night on the road against the Charlotte Hornets, but they certainly did not look like a team coming off a long break, trumping the hosts 122-97 to start their campaign on a positive note.

With no one on the injured list, the Pacers made quick work of the Hornets, never trailing again after securing the lead in the middle of the first quarter as they led by as much as 27. Most impressively, Indiana put on the clamps on Charlotte, holding them to just 97 points on 34.4 percent shooting from the field, including just 9-43 (20.9 percent) from downtown.

Here are the 3 biggest takeaways from the Pacers’ tone-setting win over the Hornets.

3 biggest takeaways from the Indiana Pacers’ drubbing of the Charlotte Hornets

1. Some interesting rotation decisions on Day 1

Preseason rotations are from the most resolute thing in the world, but head coach Rick Carlisle’s decisions against the Hornets were definitely noticed by fans.

Outside of the expected starting unit, the second unit rotation of McConnell-Nesmith-Mathurin-Taylor-Jackson surprised some people, especially when considering the guys they usurped on the depth chart.

Oshae Brissett, who was projected to assume a meaningful role off the bench at the minimum, was relegated to third-stringer duty. Both Goga Bitadze and Daniel Theis also did not play, though their reconditioning after a summer of international play could be the reason why.

Elsewhere, it was surprising to see Taylor and Nesmith get thrown into the fire as much as they did. That James Johnson also logged a good chunk of court time was quite the shocker.