The Pacers are no longer offensive

Tyrese Haliburton? Pascal Siakam? Bennedict Mathurin perhaps? No, Indiana's leading scorer on Sunday against Charlotte is called TJ McConnell. The replacement leader signed a big hit, with 30 points in 26 minutes. But it's not all that good news for the Pacers. Because once again, Rick Carlisle's attack coughed up, and TJ McConnell had to come out of his box to try to remedy it. Lost effort, with a fifth defeat (113-109 final score) in the last six matches.

But where have the flamboyant Pacers gone, capable of scoring at will last season, even in the absence of Tyrese Haliburton? The regression is glaring: from 123.3 points scored per game in 2023/24 and the second best “Offensive Rating” (120.5 points scored per 100 possessions), just behind the Celtics (122.2), Indiana fell to 12th place, with just 114 points scored per game, and 19th in Offensive Rating (111.7).

However, the squad has not changed that much, apart from the return of a long-term injury which had kept Bennedcit Mathurin out of action for a long time last season. But the Canadian's return to form does not explain the bankruptcy of the Eastern finalist coming out on this side of the floor.

The distribution of shots raises questions

“ We suffer from the details of the game, such as putting both hands on the ball, avoiding lost balls which are nevertheless avoidable. » said Rick Carlisle after the match. “ We have to be a team that creates energy when things aren't going our way. Unfortunately, a lot of our difficulties come from what's happening on offense. This is something we can control and something we must change. »

Against the Hornets, Indiana and in particular its leaders were unrecognizable. None of the starters exceeded the 11 points scored, despite significant playing time. While the Pacers were in fourth place among the teams that scored the most on the counterattack last season, with unbridled play, the starting five did not score a single point in transition against Charlotte…

And as since the start of this poor series of results, the distribution of shots was surprising. Pascal Siakam (14.4 shots on average per match) only tried his luck eight times, having the low post ball only three times in the match, against the Hornets who were nevertheless very short inside. Tyrese Haliburton (14.3 shots on average per game) did barely better with ten attempts, as against the Grizzlies a few days earlier.

Even Myles Turner, a more secondary but no less important scorer, has been behind in the last three weeks: 9 shots taken against Charlotte, as against the Raptors, 8 against the Nets and the Pistons.

Guilty inconstancy

“ You saw it in Chicago, what works for us is a balanced attack, ball circulation and greater attention to detail on defense » summed up Rick Carlisle on Sunday. “ We missed all these things tonight. »And when asked why his team errs so much through inconsistency, the Pacers coach takes a deep breath before blurting out, annoyed: “Excellent question, I’ll think about it.”.

At the Bulls on Friday, Indiana thought it had found an escape route, by organizing a longer shooting session the morning of the match, an hour and a half working on spacing and the same ball circulation mentioned by Rick Carlisle after the setback. against the Hornets. For 132 points passed to the Chicago defense in the end, in standards much closer to those of 2023/24.

“ We need to stop comparing anything to last season » said the boss before the match with the Bulls. “ Last season was a magical journey, a magical 'basketball ecosystem'. We have different elements this year, and a different game. We must not make excuses. We have to adapt and be better. » With a record of 10 victories for 15 defeats, the score is not there.

Especially if the Pacers are provisionally qualified for the play-in, the direct opponents in front like the Heat and the Bucks have found color.