The Pacers season has been a bit of a rollercoaster so far. For the first half of the season the Pacers were considered one of the surprises of the league and seemed to be off to a strong start. Then Tyrese Haliburton suffered an injury that kept him out for a few weeks. In that time the Pacers seemed to lose all momentum and have struggled to get any of it back, even with the return of their newly minted all-star.
A new report from CBS Sports has the power rankings for the NBA, and there are some surprising opinions within the piece.
- The top four teams in the piece all are from the eastern conference (Bucks, Celtics, Cavs, and 76ers in that order). This means that the Pacers continue to play in the most top heavy conference in the NBA.
- The Kings continue to be in the top 10 at 6, showing that their trade last season for Domas continues to be a win-win for both franchises.
- The Pacers continued their downward slide in the Power Rankings down to 26, one spot lower than the last power rankings. The only teams below them in the rankings are the Pistons, Rockets, Hornets, and Spurs.
If the Pacers aren’t trying to tank, it’s plain to see they aren’t playing very well at the moment.
While we can’t say for sure that the Pacers are trying to tank, their play on the court is certainly lackluster at best. They are losing to teams they should lose to as well as losing to teams they should be beating. Because of this, their odds of landing Wembanyama continue to climb. Perhaps they should continue this trajectory given the ceiling on their season at the moment is probably a first-round exit.
This team has a lot of young pieces on it. But the power rankings are right, it just isn’t enough this year and they should load up on more talent and make a run next year.