2 positives, 3 negatives from first week of Indiana Pacers basketball

Positive: Pacers are an exciting ball club

We had to get this one out of the way early because it goes without saying.

Whether the Pacers started 2-2, 4-0, or even 0-4, one thing would be certain, and that would be that they would still be a fun team to watch. It really makes sense when you look at it, as the Pacers have the perfect combination of young, athletic players and sturdy, reliable veterans to make an extremely fun basketball team.

This was evident before the season even started, as the Pacers youngsters were making exciting plays all the way back in Summer League before the whole team was even ready.

It has been mostly the same for the regular season, as the additions of Obi Toppin and Bruce Brown have added some extra athleticism and hustle to the team to go along with the elite playmaking and scoring ability of Tyrese Haliburton, the raw athleticism of Bennedict Mathurin and Myles Turner, and the hustle of guys like TJ McConnell off the bench.

In addition, Jarace Walker, Indiana’s prized rookie, has shown some flashes of excitement as well despite limited playing time. All of this combines to make an extremely fun basketball team that is capable of plays like reverse putback dunks and between-the-legs dunks, courtesy of Obi Toppin.

That’s not to say that the team only has dunks to offer, as with the amount of shooters and facilitators on the team. The Indiana Pacers are also capable of playing some beautiful team basketball, as displayed by some amazing sequences early in the season.

Overall, the Pacers are currently showing why they were ranked 12th on Zach Lowe’s NBA League Pass ranking after years of being ranked near the bottom, as there is a new excitement and fire in Indiana that has not been seen since the days of Paul George and Roy Hibbert.