To start the season, the Indiana Pacers had a real issue with coming out flat in the first half. Across their first three games, they gave up 30 points in each of their opponent's first and second quarters, forcing them to constantly fight to get back into games that should have been winnable from the start.
The Pacers have gotten that problem just a little bit under control, but now there's an even bigger one to deal with. In the absence of Tyrese Haliburton, the Pacers are now struggling to close games effectively. They were outscored by 18 in the fourth quarter against the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday night and lost the second half by 19 points in an eight-point loss to the Milwaukee Bucks in the game prior.
Look, it makes sense that the team is struggling in late-game situations without one of the best organizers and clutch-time players in the NBA. What doesn't make sense, however, is how they went from good to absolutely, unsolvably dreadful so quickly.
Indiana has many problems to solve if they want to return to the playoffs, let alone be contenders the way they had expected. While it's fair to point to injuries as the reason the Pacers have struggled to start the season, they now sit at 2-3 while only facing one team that is expected to be in the playoff race in the Sixers.
The answer is not simply to bring back Haliburton. This team has consistency problems that they need to solve.
The ideals of closing lineups
The Pacers are not lacking in talent, nor are they missing a late-game shot creator in the absence of their superstar point guard. They have both Pascal Siakam and Andrew Nembhard to do a decent job of that.
No, the larger issue with this Pacers team is the things they do that get in their own way. The Pacers and Sixers committed 15 and 16 turnovers, respectively, but the Sixers scored eight more points in transition.
Good teams and great teams are typically separated by whether they can overcome losing their identity. Great teams often have so many different things they can do at a high level that losing one aspect of their strengths is not enough to bog them down, while good teams need to have the runway to do what they are comfortable with, or else they fall apart.
To this point in the season, the Pacers are a good team. With a healthy Ivica Zubac and Haliburton, they are variable on offense and have a defense that does not give up many extra possessions.
Bringing back Haliburton sets their floor as a good team, but to become a great team, the rest of the roster needs to find an answer to how the team can win in close games.
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