Indiana Pacers: Were season-opening struggles a sign of things to come?
Were the Indiana Pacers’ struggles in their season-opener a sign of things to come?
The Indiana Pacers’ opened the 2019-20 NBA season against the Detroit Pistons and it was a brutal start to the season.
The Pacers went scoreless for the first three minutes of the game and looked lost on offense as there was no ball movement. Coach Nate McMillan had to waste a timeout early because of the lack of energy and the obvious confusion being shown by the Pacers. It was not until the second quarter when the Pacers started to find a groove.
They took a 55-54 lead into halftime and then continued a quality performance into the third with an 86-83 lead after three. Everything fell apart in the fourth quarter as the Pistons began to dominate the Pacers by outscoring the blue and gold by 12. The Pistons took a 119-110 win back to the Motor City.
What were the positives of this game for the Pacers? Well, there were not many. Center Myles Turner kept the Pacers alive in the second and third quarters by playing solid defense and hitting key shots, including a step-back 3-pointer.
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He ended the game with 25 points while shooting 60 percent from the field, including 4-7 from downtown. He also had nine rebounds, three blocks, and two steals. The newly extended Domantas Sabonis, had an amazing game as he pounded down low. He finished the game with a Pacers high, 27 points, on 73 percent shooting and 13 rebounds.
Point guard Malcolm Brogdon found his footing in the second half as he had a double-double after a slow start. He had 22 points and 11 assists. This included shooting 10-11 from the free-throw line. The only other player to make a positive impact was the sixth man Edmond Sumner.
He provided a spark to the Pacers in the first quarter with two much-needed steals as the blue and gold were starting to falter early. Sumner’s season will likely be filled with ups and downs, but if he keeps bringing the energy that he did last night expect for him to be an important part of the rotation. He ended the night with six points, three steals, and two assists.
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So, what went wrong? The defense. The defense was bad. Pistons’ center Andre Drummond was able to do whatever he wanted to, all game, as he bullied the Pacers for 32 points, 23 rebounds, and four blocks.
On top of that, the Pacers let the Pistons’ back-up guard Luke Kennard roam free and go for 30 points while making 6-9 from beyond the arc. In addition, the Pacers’ bench came up with a poor effort. The Pistons’ bench outscored the Pacers’ bench 57-16. You cannot win in the National Basketball Association with those kinds of numbers.
The Holiday brothers, Aaron and Justin, went a combined 0-8 from the field. Back-up power forward TJ Leaf played for three minutes and looked lost and awkward for all three of them. Outside of Sumner, the only other bench players to score were Doug McDermott with six points and T.J. McConnell with four points.
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Was it only one game? Yes. Are there still 81 games to play? Yes. Still, there are a lot of areas of concern for Pacers’ fans after that game. The bench is going to have to figure it out quickly and since there are a lot of new players on the team it may just take some time to gel. Let’s hope it does not take too long though. Until All-Star Victor Oladipo gets back, the team needs to win as many of the games they are favored in as possible. This just was not the way to start.