Pacers bring no threes and no defense to New Orleans in blowout loss to Pelicans
The Pacers were blown out by the Pelicans on Saturday night with little defense and even less three-point shooting.
MY SISTER'S HOUSE, Ind. – After a much-better game on Thursday against the New York Knicks, the Pacers were in New Orleans on Saturday hoping to maintain their level against a lesser, albeit playing well of late, team. The Pelicans entered the game at 6-22, half a game behind the Pacers in the standings.
They exited with seven wins, and they thumped the Pacers. It was an ugly, 19-point drubbing in which the Pacers started off the game by giving up 44 first-quarter points and ended it by watching their deficit balloon from nine to 21 in 3:08 of action during the fourth quarter.
"First quarter was very poor, obviously," head coach Rick Carlisle said postgame. "I just don't think there was much fight," T.J. McConnell added of that same stretch.
McConnell went on to say that the Pacers battled better and played hard the rest of the night. They were able to run more and get easier shots. But they conceded a season-high number of points in one quarter (44 also allowed in the third quarter in Utah) and couldn't dig themselves out of that hole.
Tony East
After one quarter, the Pacers were down by 17. When the final buzzer sounded, they trailed by 19. It's clear where things got sideways. "In the first quarter, they scored 24 points in the paint," Pacers assistant coach Johnny Carpenter said of the first quarter defensive woes during a halftime interview on the FanDuel Sports Indiana broadcast of the game. "We did a much better job protecting the paint, loading in transition," he added of the second frame, during which the Pelicans scored just 20 points.
While the second quarter did show some progress, the Pels had little trouble scoring again during the second half, dropping in 34 points in the third period and 30 in the fourth. For one 12-minute stretch, the Pacers defended okay – the rest of the game was quite poor. Entering the NBA Cup break, the Pacers had the seventh-best defense in the NBA across the last 10 games. In their four outings post-break, the Pacers rank 22nd on the less glamorous end of the floor – and they've played the Wizards and Pelicans in that stretch.
Offensively, the Pacers process was largely fine. Their expected shot quality, per pbpstats, was 0.53 – just shy of the Pelicans at 0.55 (these numbers are a part of an expected effective field goal percentage model). It wasn't a great offensive night by any means, but roughly average for the blue and gold in terms of the shots they generated.
"Getting pace, initiating action in the halfcourt with pace, with speed, gets us downhill and gets us on the rim," Carpenter said of the Pacers offense when it was at its best in New Orleans.
Unfortunately for the Pacers, generating good shots is only half the battle. They have to go in, and they did not – the Pacers shot 8/42 from long range in defeat. More on this to come, but one of the only ways to win on a poor defensive night is to shoot the ball well. That... did not happen.
Thus, the Pacers are 6-22. It's the second-worst record in the NBA (tied with Sacramento) and just percentage points ahead of the last-place Wizards. Oof, and their schedule gets tougher in the next few weeks.
While a lot went wrong in The Big Easy, it wasn't all bad. And, as usual, there is a transaction to talk about.
James Wiseman re-signs with the Pacers
Tony Bradley popped up on the injury report ahead of Pacers-Pelicans with a fractured thumb, and suddenly the Pacers were in need of center depth. They turned to an old friend in James Wiseman, who was waived by the team early in the ongoing season.
"Directly related to Tony's [thumb]," Carlisle said of the signing. "Certainly because of that, this makes sense to bring James back for this period and take another good look at him."
Wiseman was with the Pacers last season before tearing his Achilles. This year, he played and started in one game before the Pacers injury outlook became too significant to ignore. He was a part of the first transaction made by the front office to build a healthy squad, being waived in order to open a roster spot for Mac McClung.
Carlisle shared that Wiseman has been staying ready in California and playing in pickup games. The team worked him out Saturday morning before the signing. He knows the system, players, and coaching staff well, which makes him a natural fit to be an emergency center.
"He looks great. He's not in NBA game shape by any stretch, no one can be. But for someone in his situation, he's got the best start you can probably have," Carlisle said.
This signing has interesting mechanics. Gabe McGlothan was released from his hardship contract to make this move possible, then Wiseman was signed using that hardship exception. Because the Pacers were granted a hardship contract – used for McGlothan – on December 16, Wiseman assumes that hardship slot. Thus, his "10-day contract' actually expires after December 25. So he can only be active for two more games. Both McGlothan and Wiseman will get paid the amount of a full 10-day deal. Not a bad gig if you can get it.
Wiseman finished with six points and three rebounds in the loss. Carlisle called Wiseman "terrific" postgame, and in the same breath he called another player terrific.
Johnny Furphy, hello
"I thought Furphy and Wiseman were terrific in this game. McConnell was terrific," was Carlisle's full quote postgame. Furphy was, indeed, fantastic.
His defense and pestiness has been noticeably solid of late, but his offense had yet to pop since returning from injury earlier this month. Yet in New Orleans, even after re-aggravating the injured ankle during the game, Furphy turned in his best-ever NBA outing.
The second-year wing drilled a three, then kept his offensive impact alive by attacking the basket. He made six two-point shots on his way to a career-best 18 points on 7/10 shooting, his first time making more than six shots in a game.
"He seemed to do well in the second half. I made sure the trainers looked at the play to see how severe [the ankle injury] looked. He stepped on somebody's foot," Carlisle said of Furphy fighting through injury. The Australian wing was good to go after the re-tape.
"He had one of his best games as a Pacer," Carlisle added. "His energy running and the way he just plays the right way and with the right spirit is something that is really important."
Said T.J. McConnell: "It was great to see Furphy play the way he did. Especially coming back from an injury." Furphy's final stat line was 18 points and two rebounds – he's still got a nose for the ball on the glass.
Three-point shooting, yuck
The Pacers were 8/42 from deep. That alone would summarize this section, yet I'll provide more context.
It was just the eighth time in Pacers franchise history they've taken at least 40 threes in a game and made fewer than 10. It was their worst three-point percentage in such a game ever (tied with another 8/42 night against Boston on January 6, 2024).
It was the worst percentage by any NBA team with at least 40 three-point attempts in one game this season. "I think you can point at a couple where you're like 'that's a tough one', but I think for the most part, we took good ones. Obviously, they didn't fall tonight," McConnell said of the Pacers attempts from deep.
If you can't get stops or make threes, you will lose a lot in the 2025 NBA. The Pacers found that out on Saturday, but they have Furphy and Wiseman to thank for some silver linings as they head to Boston.
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