It seems the Indiana Pacers' coaching staff convened during the All-Star break and made a commitment to pick up the pace and shoot a lot more 3-pointers.
Unfortunately, while it surely wasn’t a coaching decision, the up-tempo, perimeter-happy approach was accompanied by too many turnovers and a ton of points allowed in the paint. It all added up to the Pacers losing all six of their games since the All-Star break.
Here’s a look at the good, the bad and the ugly from Indiana’s recent slide.
The good
The Pacers can shoot from deep! In the first six games after the All-Star break alone, Indiana matched (with 18 against the Washington Wizards) and then exceeded (with 20 against the Dallas Mavericks) its season-high for 3-pointers made. Indiana launched more than 40 treys in four of those games, including a season-high of 49 in the Washington game, and made a respectable percentage in all of them. For a team that started the season as one of the most inaccurate shooting teams the NBA had seen in decades, the solid perimeter numbers are encouraging.
Indiana has also picked up the pace since the All-Star break. The Pacers have played 11 games this season with 107.5 or more possessions. Four of those games have happened since the All-Star break. Indiana presumably plans to play this way next season when point guard Tyrese Haliburton returns from injury, so it makes sense to get a jump-start on the up-tempo approach.
Finally, for Pacer fans following the NBA Draft Lottery odds, the losing streak wasn’t exactly a bad thing.
The bad
Team turnover percentage, one of the “four factors” considered most connected to winning, worked against Indiana in the games immediately after the All-Star break. A turnover percentage worse than the opponent was the common thread in five of the losses. This is a concerning development for a team that had a better turnover percentage than the opponent in a majority of its games prior to the All-Star break.
There weren’t any extreme single-game turnover numbers, but the Pacers were consistently playing from a deficit of possessions. That’s not a formula for success for an injury-riddled roster that needs every advantage it can get.
The ugly
Indiana needed all those 3-pointers just to stay semi-competitive, because the Pacers haven’t been able to stop anyone in the paint. In the first five games after the All-Star break alone, Indiana matched (with 78 against Washington) and then exceeded (with 82 against the Philadelphia 76ers) its season-worst for points allowed in the paint. The Pacers allowed at least 125 total points in five games since the All-Star break.
The defensive issues are, ironically, defensible. Newly acquired center Ivica Zubac hasn’t played for Indiana yet due to injury. Isaiah Jackson departed as part of the Zubac deal, and then the Pacers were better on the interior with Jackson than without him this season. All-Star forward Pascal Siakam played just one February game after the All-Star break. Obi Toppin is just returning from injury.
And finally, for Pacer fans who want to win every game regardless of lottery odds, the latest losing streak surely is hard to stomach.