Every team has one or two losses a season where everything that could go wrong, does go wrong. Unfortunately for the Indiana Pacers, that loss was on Friday night against the Pelicans. The Pacers never had a chance in this game from the moment it tipped off and lost 129-102.
The Pelicans started off the game as on fire as any team I've seen this year. New Orleans Shot an incredible 90.9%. If you shoot almost 91% in a quarter, it's hard for the other team to win. The Pelicans socred 48 points, in the first, which is the most points the Pacers have given up in any quarter this year.
New Orleans was up by as much as 32 points in the first half, although the Pacers did offer some resistance in the second quarter after Jarace Walker gave the team a spark. Indiana got it to within 12 after a 23-3 run that was the only thing positive Indiana Pacers fans can take from this game.
Tyrese Haliburton has his worst game yet for the Pacers
As bad as the Toronto game on Monday night was for Tyrese Haliburton, this one was worse. Not only did he not attack switches, but his shot was not falling period. He was held scoreless and went 0/7 from the field. Six of those shots were from three, clearly indicating that he was not willing to attack downhill.
Quite frankly, none of the starters played well. Pascal Siakam was a disgraceful -43. While plus-minus isn't the end-all-be-all of stats, it tells a pretty good story of this game. The starter with the best plus-minus was Aaron Nesmith with -13. Even Haliburton was -40.
Believe it or not, there are some positives to take from this game. Walker earned himself some future playing time. Because Ben Sheppard was out with an illness, a spot in the rotation opened up. Walker took it and delivered 6 points, 6 assists, and 7 rebounds. He was also a team-best +14.
This is one of those games that you just burn the tape and don't even watch. If a team is going to shoot that well in the first half, it's almost impossible to win.