It was never a doubt that the Indiana Pacers' offense would be bad this season.
Tyrese Haliburton, who is the engine of Indiana's elite run-and-gun offense, is going to miss the entire season due to an Achilles injury. And Myles Turner, who was a fantastic stretch big for the team, left in free agency to join the Milwaukee Bucks. Not only was it always going to be tough for Indiana to replace both of them offensively, but the team was going to be forced to move everybody else on the roster up one peg, which would inevitably lead to some growing pains.
Even so, the Pacers' offense is far worse than fans ever imagined it would be. And this only signals just how bad the team has it right now.
The Pacers' offense is struggling more than anybody anticipated
Through the first few weeks of the regular season, Indiana's 103.4 offensive rating ranks dead last in the NBA, according to Basketball Reference. Additionally, its 107.6 PPG, 39.6 FG%, 29.8 3FG%, 23.1 APG, all rank in the bottom two across the league, according to NBA.com.
The Pacers' offensive struggles are obvious even beyond the stat sheet.
They have done a surprisingly decent job of generating open looks. And while it is not as efficient as usual, the team is still playing its fast-paced and uptempo offense. However, there's a pretty clear difference between a Pacers team with Haliburton and one without. And right now, they are seeing exactly how bad it is without him as they continue to struggle hitting their shots and diversifying their offense.
A lot of this isn't necessarily Indiana's fault, though. The team has dealt with numerous injuries to begin the season. This especially includes Andrew Nembhard, T.J. McConnell, Bennedict Mathurin, and Obi Toppin, who all either already missed significant time due to injuries or are currently on the shelf.
Rick Carlisle is a fantastic head coach and one of the best offensive minds the game has ever seen. But even he can only do so much, given the Pacers' situation.
For most of the young season, the Pacers have been without a legitimate point guard option, a facilitator who can set up teammates for good shots. Because of this, a lot of pressure has been on Pascal Siakam (and Aaron Nesmith, though not nearly to the same extent) to essentially do everything. The Cameroon native is being forced to create his own shots as the team's primary (if not only) real scoring threat, while also getting everybody else involved because of Indiana's emphasis on ball movement.
Overall, Siakam has done everything the team needs from him and more. But being a one-man show never bodes well for teams, and the Pacers are seeing that firsthand.
As the Pacers continue to get healthy again and find their groove amid a down season, they should be able to at least somewhat return to form. They will likely never reach the same heights they did last season until their star guard returns, but they can at least get closer to it. Whether they will or not is a different story. But at least for the time being, the Pacers will just have to work with what they have.
Unfortunately for them, what they have clearly isn't good enough.