With the Indiana Pacers playing on New Year's Eve on the road against the Milwaukee Bucks, Indiana has a chance to get back to .500 and climb the Eastern Conference standings.
Few would have expected this team to reach 15 losses before they won 15 games. After last season's miraculous run in the postseason, many expected the Pacers to be one of the top teams out East.
Instead, underachieving players and numerous injuries have hampered Indiana's plans to make it back to the Eastern Conference Finals.
As the New Year approaches, these three items should be the Pacers' Resolutions for 2025.
1. Get to the free throw line more
The Pacers have some impressive rankings in terms of their offense as a team. Last season's highest-scoring offense is still in the top 10 this year.
They also own a field goal percentage and three-point percentage in the top 10. Even their free throw percentage ranks in the top 10.
However, Indiana is in the bottom 10 in terms of free throw attempts a game. Entering Monday night, the Pacers were only better than eight other teams in this category. Two of those are the lowly Washington Wizards and the Charlotte Hornets.
Pascal Siakam and Myles Turner are shooting below 80% from the charity stripe. So are T.J. McConnell and Jarace Walker.
Brace yourself for this stat to further illustrate the need for this team to make more trips to the free throw line--Ben Sheppard has played in 19 games and started six of them as of Monday. Averaging nearly 20 minutes a game, the second-year guard has not recorded a free throw make or attempt.
Tyrese Haliburton and Bennedict Mathurin are the only two Pacers aside from Siakam and Turner averaging more than three free throw attempts.
With Indiana scoring less points than they did a season ago and struggling to win games regularly, getting to the charity stripe more may be the Pacers' best bet to save their season in 2025.
2. Stop losing close games (five points or less)
This was a theme of last season, as well. The Pacers had this happen 12 times out of their 35 losses a season ago. This year, they have four, and two were both road losses to the Orlando Magic. With 17 losses already, at least four of those were winnable. Most recently, the six-point loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder last week at home.
Losing close games will drop the Pacers in the Eastern Conference standings. They enter Monday two games behind the Atlanta Hawks, who sit in fifth place.
Indiana will have played eight more away games than they have at home by the turn of the New Year. That gives the Pacers a little room to make up for some of these ill-advised losses they have suffered.
3. The Pacers have to quit giving away games to lesser teams
We mentioned the two losses on the road against the Magic. Both were by five points or less.
However, even more losses have come against the teams in the cellar. Even before the first loss in Orlando, the Pacers botched a chance to beat the Philadelphia 76ers. Instead, they suffered a four-point loss in overtime while Paul George and Joel Embiid sat out.
Another instance is when Indiana dropped a game against the New Orleans Pelicans. CJ McCollum did not even play in it. Haliburton and company took a 24-point loss to Detroit in Indianapolis and then a nine-point loss against the Brooklyn Nets less than ten days later.
The Pacers got stung twice by the Charlotte Hornets. The first time was a 20-point blowout in North Carolina and the other was another close loss (four points) at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
Indiana hasn't been able to figure out how to defeat Siakam's former team, either. The Toronto Raptors only have seven wins entering Monday. Two of those were in Canada when they mauled the Pacers twice.
That's at least seven losses against teams with losing records and struggling to net wins worse than the Pacers. To have any chance at competing for a title come the postseason, Indiana needs to stop giving away these unnecessary losses.