Pacers Notebook: Energy lacking as Indiana stumbles in weekend pair of games
Indiana squanders late lead in Philly, then follows with ugly loss to Wizards. Plus: Haliburton at WWE, TV schedule changes, a substitute PA announcer, Sheppard at Butler, and a Buckner shout-out
After winning four of their last six games, the Pacers closed out NBA Cup play with two disappointing performances.
First came a 115-105 loss Friday in Philadelphia, where Joel Embiid delivered his best game in two years: a season-high 39 points, nine rebounds, and four assists in 39 minutes. Indiana led 100-95 with 8:24 remaining, then was outscored 20-5 down the stretch.
That’s right — just five points over the final 8:24.
The Pacers were held to 15 points on 5-of-20 shooting in the fourth quarter. They didn’t commit a single turnover in the period, but struggled to generate clean looks or consistent movement. Point guard T.J. McConnell provided a spark off the bench against his former team, finishing with 15 points and five assists in 17 minutes.
The team had Saturday off, but followed it with one of its worst performances in recent memory.
A lack of energy was evident immediately — and recognized by head coach Rick Carlisle. He called timeout just 73 seconds into Sunday’s home game after the three-win Washington Wizards scored on their first two possessions, both following missed 3-pointers by Andrew Nembhard.
It was a difficult outing for Nembhard, who was clearly not at full strength. He entered the game questionable with left calf soreness, started 0-for-11, then made his final three shots to finish with seven points in 30 minutes.
The setting didn’t help. It was a home matinee during a weekend winter storm, on an NFL Sunday. The environment felt more like a college afternoon game. Specifically, on Sunday afternoon, the last game before Christmas break; no students, alumni band.
Indiana was a step slow throughout, was beaten on the glass, and shot just 36.9% from the field. With no standout individual performances, it added up to a 108-89 loss to the now 4-20 Wizards — the only team in the Eastern Conference below the Pacers in the standings.
The Pacers entered the game as 10.5-point favorites.
“Ugly game from our perspective,” Carlisle said postgame.
“The way we played today is not acceptable. Not enough energy, not the right spirit, obviously not enough aggression, physicality. You can kind of go down the list but we’ve got work to do.”
Indiana dropped to 1-15 this season when shooting below 45%, and to 0-4 when failing to score 100 points. On Sunday, the Pacers didn’t even reach 90.
“If you’re not all there at both ends, all the time, it’s gonna be difficult,” Carlisle repeated. “It’s gonna be very, very difficult.”
Credit Jay Huff, who started for the 10th time in 26 games, for battling. He finished with 13 points and four rebounds — his third double-figure scoring effort in the past four games.
“We didn’t set the tone right,” he said postgame. “That first quarter usually does set the tone.”
“We didn’t get ourselves any easy shots. Most of our shots were contested or difficult or just not in rhythm. We just didn’t really give ourselves any easy ones, which makes it tough even to get the hard ones to fall.”
The Pacers were outscored in each of the final three quarters, while Wizards center Marvin Bagley III finished with 23 points and 14 rebounds.
The Pacers now have three days between games. They were off Monday and will practice the next two days ahead of Thursday’s home game against the New York Knicks, who reached the NBA Cup Finals and will face the San Antonio Spurs on Tuesday in Las Vegas (8:30 p.m. ET, Prime Video).
Haliburton Attends Memorable WWE Match
You surely know by now that Tyrese Haliburton is a diehard WWE fan. Has been since he was a child, watching regularly with his late uncle.
He took advantage of the Pacers’ schedule to attend a special event Saturday night in Washington, D.C.
Following Friday’s loss in Philadelphia, Haliburton went to Capital One Arena for the final match of WWE legend John Cena — one of his favorites. Haliburton sat ringside with his father and brother, positioned just behind the announcers for Peacock.
Cena tapped out, losing to Gunther.
Then, at Sunday’s game against the Wizards, Haliburton wore a Cena jersey reading “Hustle, Loyalty, Respect” in recognition of Cena’s retirement.
Another Pacers Game Dropped From National TV
For the third time in just a few weeks, the Pacers had a national TV appearance nixed.
Peacock, now a streaming partner of the league, was an originally scheduled to air Rockets at Pacers on Monday, Feb. 2. But not anymore.
The network, owned by NBC, is building up an inventory of double-headers. So on Feb. 2, they moved Timberwolves at Grizzlies up to 7:30 p.m. ET, then added 76ers at Clippers to the schedule.
Originally scheduled for nine national TV appearances, that number is down to six. And from three to one on Peacock — the only one now being Celtics at Pacers on Jan. 12.
The four remaining national exclusive games:
Jan. 12 v Boston | Peacock
Jan. 23 at Oklahoma City | Prime Video
Mar. 13 v New York | Prime Video
Apr. 7 v Minnesota | NBC
Meanwhile, it’s good news for the Pacers TV team over at FanDuel Sports Network Indiana — because it’s another broadcast added to their schedule, now 76 of 82 games.
Barkley Talks Quinn Buckner
Pacers TV analyst Quinn Buckner received a playful shoutout from Charles Barkley during Saturday night’s Indiana–Kentucky broadcast.
For the first time, Barkley served as a game analyst on ESPN so that he could be paired with Dick Vitale — a dream for both of them. It was great to have those two together on the broadcast Saturday night of Indiana at Kentucky. However, it was more of a podcast and very little game analysis.
Buckner came up after Vitale noted it being the 50th anniversary of the 1976 championship team that went 32-0. (IU is wearing ‘76 patches on their jerseys to celebrate.)
“Quinn Buckner is one of my most annoying friends in my life,” Barkley joked toward the end of the first half. “I’ve been stuck with him my whole life. I love him, but he’s probably my most annoying friend.”
Buckner’s incredible career includes a high school state title, NCAA championship, NBA championship, and Olympic gold medal. An easygoing and fun guy, Buckner built all kinds of friendships along the way — from Larry Bird to Michael Jordan and Barkley.
Which led me down the archives of YouTube, where I found QB interviewing Bird.
Sheppard Visits Hinkle
With Saturday off, Ben Sheppard made the short 15-minute drive from downtown Indy to Butler University to attend the Bulldogs’ men’s basketball game against Providence.
It was a Blue Out at Hinkle Fieldhouse, and Butler prevailed 113-110 in double overtime to open Big East play 1-0.
Aaron Pitman Fills In
Fans inside Gainbridge Fieldhouse heard a new voice at Sunday’s matinee.
Aaron Pitman, currently the public address announcer for the Noblesville Boom, filled in as the PA voice for Pacers-Wizards. Just another example of using the G League team as a training ground for the NBA franchise.
Shawn Sullivan and Troy Pepper are the two regular PA announcers at The Fieldhouse.
With the Boom hosting the Windy City Bulls at 5 p.m. ET, in-game emcee Kurt Streblow then filled in for Pitman in Noblesville.
What I’m Watching…
Obi Toppin is out until February after undergoing surgery on his right foot. The Naismith College Player of the Year in 2020 was honored at Dayton on Saturday, entering into the Athletic Hall of Fame during a halftime ceremony during their game against North Florida.
I wasn’t able to make it over to Dayton, but here’s a package from a local TV outlet.
And then…
It’s been a remarkable fan to be an IU football fan. As a journalist, that’s the one exception I allow myself. I’ve been going to games for as long as I can remember. Just last year, you couldn’t give away tickets until halfway through the season.
Until others caught on.
Now they’re Big Ten champs … Undefeated… home of the Heisman trophy (Fernando Mendoza) for the first time — and headed to the Rose Bowl.
Bloomington native Jon Wortheim told the story for 60 Minutes on Sunday.