After making the Eastern Conference Finals last season, the Indiana Pacers will be lucky to even make the postseason this year. Yes, injuries have been a massive factor, but outside of Bennedict Mathurin, none of the healthy players on the roster have been reliable.
After falling to the Houston Rockets, 130-113, on Wednesday, Indiana has lost four of their last five and is 6-9 on the year, good for ninth in a putrid Eastern Conference.
While Tyrese Haluburton's slow start, injuries, and a lack of rebounding have all contributed to the disappointing season, it starts from the top, and head coach Rick Carlisle isn't pointing fingers.
"This is a difficult time right now, for a lot of reasons," Carlisle said. "We're not playing well, that's obvious. Our connectedness is not where it needs to be. Our collective spirit is not where it needs to be. I'm going to look very closely at the film tonight, the coaching staff is, and we've got to come up with answers."
Other teams, like the Phoenix Suns, Orlando Magic, Denver Nuggets, and Oklahoma City Thunder have all suffered injuries this season, but they all remain over .500.
Regarding "connectedness," the Pacers were first in assists last season, averaging 30.8 per game. They brought back largely the same roster this summer, but have fallen out of the top ten in that category.
While Carlisle does not shirk responsibility for the losing skid, he understands that the on-court result is a collective product.
"There's only one thing that I've ever seen that gets you out of a hole in a difficult period, and that is just unbridled, collective hard play," he continued. "We obviously have not had enough of that, and that has to change. We have a significant amount of work to do."
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The Pacers will look to get back on track on Friday against the Milwaukee Bucks in an NBA Cup matchup. The Bucks are also 6-9, but are trending upwards after a horrible start to the season.
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