The Indiana Pacers have had their fair share of struggles so far this season. Between injuries, bad luck, and playing down to the competition, the Pacers have turned a relatively easy early-season schedule into a disappointing and underwhelming 2-6 record.
However, Wednesday night's win against the Memphis Grizzlies shows signs of how the Pacers can get their season back on track. While Indiana has certainly not played slowly so far this season, they also haven't really been playing up to their reputation as one of the most run-and-gun teams in the NBA.
That changed in that Grizzlies game, where the Pacers had 24 points off turnovers and 18 fast-break points in a four-point win over Memphis. These are not league-leading numbers by any means, but they are an upgrade to where the Pacers have been for most of this year.
Even with Tyrese Haliburton still missing time due to a hamstring injury, the team is slowly finding a way to get back to who they were without the engine that initially made that possible.
Indiana still has so much to work on to turn it all around, including the obvious need to get healthy, but the answer may just be in front of us all along.
Great teams know how to establish their identity no matter who's playing or who they're playing against.
Now that they've rediscovered that first step to being great, it feels like it may be time for the winds of fate to start changing in the Pacers' favor.
A bad shooting night vs. a worse shooting night
This was not a good night for three-point shooting as the Pacers hit only 12 of their 37 attempts, only slightly outpacing the Grizzlies, who went 12/42 from deep. Both teams typically expect more from their shooters, but no one shot particularly well.
Ty Jerome, who may just be the favorite for Most Improved Player, shot only 2/10 from deep individually, while Cedric Coward went 4/12. Both could have easily hit a few more shots to flip this game in Memphis' favor, but alas, they did not, and Indiana escaped with a win.
For the Pacers, it was Quenton Jackson and Pascal Siakam leading the way. Jackson continues to be a revelation as a scorer off the bench, playing as a hybrid of TJ McConnell, Andrew Nembhard, and Tyrese Haliburton at times. His continued development will be hugely important for Indiana.
It's so easy to blame this game on shooting variance, but Indiana is slowly finding ways to win without Haliburton and while their best players (Ivica Zubac) have bad games.
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