Pacers' 'humbling' season ends with franchise’s worst winning percentage
The Pacers finish 19-63 — the worst record in franchise history — as injuries define a difficult season and shift focus to the draft lottery and what comes next.
Good evening and welcome back to Fieldhouse Files.
One of the best things about living in downtown Indianapolis is that there’s never a shortage of sports. Just last week, a massive new graphic was going up on the JW Marriott even before they had finished taking down the bracket from the men’s Final Four.
I felt that again Monday, when the Indiana Fever announced their latest signing and then, hours later, made three picks in the WNBA Draft. Because just 24 hours earlier, the Pacers wrapped up another season with Game 82 — a 133-121 loss to the Pistons.
We knew heading into training camp last September that this 2025-26 team wouldn’t be a championship contender, but nobody thought it would be this bad.
Historically bad.
Injuries and player availability were the number one factor. In Game 82, three of the nine players who saw action were on two-way contracts.
In total, players missed a combined 429 games due to injury — an absurd number.
As a result, it marked the first time in franchise history the Pacers failed to reach 20 wins (19-63), and just the third time they were held below 25. Historically, this has been one of the league’s most consistent franchises, regularly winning 40-plus games and reaching the postseason.
