Accountability starts with winning your matchup — so the Pacers started daily 1-on-1 battles

Larry Bird attends Day 2 of camp, Mathurin and Toppin talk defense, and the Mad Ants finalize the coaching staff.

Obi Toppin with a playful reaction after practice No. 2. He averaged 7.4 points and 2.8 rebounds in less than 16 minutes per game last season with the Knicks.

To further hammer home the idea of quality team defense beginning with each player guarding their yard, the Pacers are having 1-on-1 battles at practice.

“We got to guard people,” head coach Rick Carlisle said on Wednesday after their second practice. “You can get into a lot of things with schemes, but being able to guard your position and guard your man is an enormously important thing in the game today — and it always has been. We just got to recommit to it in a big way. Guys have really battled hard the first two days and we’ll continue to do a lot of it.”

Carlisle noted that forward Obi Toppin, one of four offseason additions, reached the finals of the competition on Day 2.

“Oh, he said that,” Toppin asked. “Did he tell you who won?”