The Indiana Pacers beat the Minnesota Timberwolves in a preseason game on Wednesday evening, to the tune of 123 to 112. It was the first game in a very long time for Tyrese Haliburton, and a shorter (but still long) time for Aaron Nesmith.
Weirdly, the Timberwolves were the perfect test for both those two players and the entire team's structure, as they offer a bit of a mirror to what the Pacers are doing.
They both plan on moving in transition, spurred on by their maestro point guard. They both plan on shooting a ton of threes, notably with their wings, who can shoot from anywhere and race to make those shots happen. There's the wiry combo forwards and the bulky, slow-footed centers, who are so often underrated by fans across the league.
However, while the Indiana Pacers were able to dominate behind Pascal Siakam and Ivica Zubac, the Timberwolves' three front-court members were largely ineffective.
If the Pacers can make that ability to shut down forwards and bigs a huge part of their identity, they will be amongst the most dangerous teams in the league and set up perfectly for the playoffs.
Shutting down forwards is the key to this season
The teams in the East that rely on guard play are few and far between. There are the champion New York Knicks, who play through Jalen Brunson. There are the Detroit Pistons, who rely on Cade Cunningham for absolutely everything. There's even the Philadelphia 76ers, who play through Tyrese Maxey, even with their star-studded lineup.
However, every single team that wants to be good in the Eastern Conference also puts a huge amount of load on their forwards. If this trend holds, there is not a single team that will be relevant in the East that will want to face a Pacers team that was able to shut down Jaden McDaniels, Jonathan Kuminga, Rudy Gobert, and Joan Beringer.
Each of those players was completely ineffective, despite being both talented and, in the case of two of them, proven. Indiana completely controlled the paint throughout the entire game, despite playing against a very good rim protector and a decent help-side shot-blocker.
Indiana will need to prove this over and over again throughout the season. While they have great defensive infrastructure, the Pacers lack a true defensive specialist to stick on a star player to shut them down.
While they don't have that elite, creme de la creme option, they have so many positionally smart defenders and a focus on ending possessions through rebounding. That makes it hard for forwards and bigs, players who require set-ups and manufactured situations.
Unfortunately for the Pacers, they do still need to go through those guard dominated teams. Maybe they'll make a trade for that final specialist. Maybe they'll find that Nesmith can pull that role off himself.
Still, if you can shut down 60% of a lineup, your defense is probably pretty strong.
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