The Indiana Pacers enter their home game against the Washington Wizards on Wednesday night at 0-4 at home. What is expected to be a significant home-court advantage has rapidly become a humiliation ritual in front of tens of thousands of loving fans. Even worse, the Pacers currently sit at 3-8 on the season and 1-7 in their last eight games.
As if last year's gap year wasn't bad enough, it seems like the Pacers are rapidly hurtling toward a repeat of what was supposed to be a one-off bad season. This team is not good, and they have not played well enough to inspire any confidence. It's bleak and unfortunate, but no less true.
However, this game against the Wizards offers an opportunity to get back on the right track. Indiana will not face another team that is at their level competitively over the next two weeks, as they will face seven straight games against teams that have produced at a much better standard so far this year, so it is imperative that they take this opportunity to get an "easy win" (if something like that even exists for them).
Hit a couple of layups to get yourself out of a slump
While Indiana hasn't been among the league's worst to start the year, they certainly have been far from that miserable group. They sit at 12th in the Eastern Conference and have the seventh-worst record in the league.
They feel completely stuck in the mud without superstar point guard Tyrese Haliburton, who has been missing time with a hamstring injury. However, it doesn't feel fair to blame the failures of the entire team on the absence of one man.
No, this team is simply not playing well. Even without the structure and ecosystem that Haliburton provides, this is a roster that should be producing at a much higher level.
Ivica Zubac has been frankly awful, and the fact that Indiana gave up two first-round picks for a big man who refuses to rebound or defend adequately feels like a crushing misstep. Jarace Walker has been equally bad, but at least he wasn't expected to be good.
There is good talent on this roster, between Pascal Siakam and Andrew Nembhard, who has performed admirably in Haliburton's absence, but any team too dependent on one player will find itself struggling to succeed without them. This is not an excuse, but instead an indictment of the way this team was built.
Indiana is in a terrible situation, but they only have themselves to blame for it. And now, the Pacers will subject the fans to watching yet another difficult-to-stomach home game.
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