The Indiana Pacers have been among the best teams in the NBA at taking care of the ball over the past few seasons. However, this was not the case at all during their loss to the Miami Heat, and it is just more proof that this season continues to get even weirder for the Pacers.
During their loss Saturday, the Pacers committed 26 turnovers to Miami's 10. Furthermore, they lost the turnover battle 14-3 in the second half alone.
This is incredibly uncharacteristic of them, even given their struggles this season (they are still averaging just 14.2 turnovers per game, according to NBA.com). Many of their turnovers were caused by sloppy passes and bad mistakes, which is the complete opposite of how they usually are.
Indiana's turnovers against the Heat were so bad that they reached rare territory, according to Tony East of the "Locked On Pacers" podcast.
"26-turnover games for the Pacers. This is the 10th one this century, the first one since Carlisle became head coach, and just the third since 2010," East said.
Pacers' season continues to be a struggle
It was always expected that the Pacers would take a step back this season. They lost Tyrese Haliburton for the season after he tore his Achilles during Game 7 of the NBA Finals, and Myles Turner left in free agency. Still, nobody expected it to be as bad as it has been (though a lot of this can be attributed to the numerous key injuries they dealt with to begin the season).
Over two months into the season, the Pacers are 6-26 and own the worst record in the league. Additionally, according to Basketball-Reference.com, they are last in offensive rating (108.7) and 29th in points per game (109.8).
The Pacers have been so successful over the past couple of seasons, mostly because of their elite offense. However, it looks completely different for them this season, and that's likely going to be the case until they get Haliburton back.
Without their offensive engine, the Pacers' offense is running a bit slower than usual. Given how important pushing the tempo is in their system, this is far from ideal. Additionally, they are struggling to space the floor, connecting on a league-worst 32.5% of their shots from deep.
Indiana looks like a shell of its former self, and it's not hard to see why. The team is struggling with injuries and the absence of their star guard. Even so, nobody thought it would be this bad.
The rest of this season is likely a wash for the Pacers, who are in too deep a hole to climb themselves out of. They still have a bright future and should be able to re-enter the title picture once Haliburton comes back. Until then, though, they are likely going to continue to stay near the bottom of the standings as they look to keep navigating through this nightmare season.