When the NBA dropped the full schedule on Thursday, it was hardly in the Indiana Pacers’ favor. On top of the limited number of nationally televised games, the team’s January stretch of games is relentless. While there may be stretches with arguably more difficult opponents, the toughest adversary in January is going to be the calendar.
It will be consistently difficult
In the month of January, the Pacers play 15 games. This number is relatively standard, as is the same number as both November and March. The difference between January and those two months, though, is the consistent pace at which the team must play. Beginning January 2nd, Indy plays a game every other day for 3 weeks until the 23rd. The only disruption in this consistency is a doubleheader in the middle of the month. If you include the final four games of December, the Pacers will be tasked with playing 16 games in 29 days without ever having more than one day of rest in between games.
Of course, there is a mixture of home and away tilts, including a multitude of East Coast trips, but the stretch also includes separate trips to Houston and Oklahoma City, the latter coming off an away game at Boston. With the lack of compounded rest days, this run will be season-defining.
The Pacers could crumble under the pressure
The most obvious possibility is the one that results in the Pacers sliding down the standings early in the year. With all of the lineup shifts and player development in line to take place this year, it is more than plausible that the team has not found a groove come the beginning of 2026. If this is the case, it seems somewhat likely that the team might find itself in a rut with the lack of available practice time during these 3-4 weeks. If the defense lacks stability and is not up to standard or the offense isn’t clicking, lacks firepower or has a hard time controlling the ball, there won’t be any time to fix the issues except during in-game scenarios.
The losses could pile up quickly before things get figured out.
They still have a good chance to rise to the challenge
On the other hand, the much more desirable possibility is that the team does find a groove and uses the overflowing schedule to rack up wins and move up in the standings. This window does not include Indy’s toughest stretch of opponents, but does include eight home contests. Further, this is the time of year this past season when the Pacers moved from good to great, as they had the second-best record in the league, behind OKC, after January 1st. Even if the year offers a rough start, if the team can get things together before the calendar turns to 2026, that would be an ideal time to right the ship before the All-Star break and give themselves a chance moving toward the playoffs.