Indiana Pacers: Where things stand for the team at the NBA hiatus

Taking a look at where things stand for the Indiana Pacers as the NBA has hit a standstill in light of recent COVID-19 concerns.

The NBA season has officially been suspended – for at least 30 days – and we do not know when it will be back. With the season on hiatus, I am going to look back at the Indiana Pacers‘ 2019-20 season. There have been a lot of ups and down with the Pacers season thus far, from a 0-3 start to the return of Victor Oladipo.

Let’s look back at the highs and lows.

Season snapshot

The Pacers added multiple new players for the 2019-20 season. They added point guards Malcolm Brogdon and T.J. McConnell, small forwards T.J. Warren and Justin Holiday, shooting guard Jeremy Lamb, power forward JaKarr Sampson, and rookie center Goga Bitazde. The chemistry took some time to form.

The Blue and Gold were off to a slow start with a 0-3 record. The Pacers’ fans started to panic. Quickly, the Pacers turned things around as they won seven of the next eight games. Then, Indiana began to cruise through the rest of the season as a mid-tier playoff team. The next panic phase began on February 1.

The Pacers lost six straight and Indiana needed the All-Star break more than any other team. The game before the All-Star Break the Pacers turned a corner and took down the league-leading Milwaukee Bucks. Indiana then went on to win seven of the next 10.

Unfortunately, the season, so far, ended on a loss to the Boston Celtics in a 114-111 thriller. The Pacers currently sit at 39-26 and are fifth in the Eastern Conference. They are two games behind the fourth seed Miami Heat.