Pacers brutal second half in Boston overshadows other improvements and bright spots

MY TEMPORARY OFFICE, Ind. – For a bit over two quarters of play, everything looked great for the Indiana Pacers in Boston. They made 12 of their first 20 three-point shots after starting 8/9 from deep, they held the Celtics to 43 points in the first half, and Pascal Siakam was rolling. Generally, even with some expected shooting regression coming, those were good signs.

With nine minutes to go in the third quarter, the Pacers led by 20 points. Bennedict Mathurin and Ethan Thompson had already combined to pull in three offensive rebounds in the period, proving the Pacers' effort level was still there. After a dismal performance in New Orleans two days prior, things looked positive for the blue and gold.

At halftime, the Celtics had 43 points. The Pacers gave up 44 in the first quarter in New Orleans. Thompson, asked about the defensive improvements during a halftime interview on the FanDuel Sports Indiana broadcast, said: "Our focus and energy. Really trying to key in on getting stops, sticking to the game plan, and at the end of the day playing hard."

Circle City Spin

The Indiana Pacers and Indiana Fever, up close

Circle City SpinTony East

His words were playing out on the court. That is, until that nine minute mark came in the third quarter. It was 69-49 at the time and the Celtics had just subbed out most of their starters. Clearly, they were looking for energy and answers, plus a little bit of luck.

They got all of it. A five-man unit of Luka Garza, Baylor Scheierman, Hugo Gonzalez, Anfernee Simons, and Sam Hauser changed the game with shooting, energy, and rebounding – Garza and Gonzalez, in particular, were causing problems on the glass. Simons had nine second-half points.

The Pacers, meanwhile, went cold. Extremely cold. In the final nine minutes of the third quarter, they scored 13 points. Eight of them came in the final 2.5 minutes of the frame. Zero free throws were made. Everything became much more challenging for the once-hot Pacers.

In the third quarter, the Pacers went 1/12 from long range and 8/26 from the field. The offense was dreadful – some of that was shot quality, much of it was poor accuracy. The reason doesn't matter, the result was poor.

No matter, they entered the fourth quarter up by 10. If their shooting or defense maintained from the first half, they could still win.

Instead? The opposite. The Pacers missed all eight of their fourth-quarter threes and shot 4/18 from the field, which includes a made shot from Kam Jones (in his NBA debut!) after the game was already decided.

In the second half, the Pacers shot 12/44 from the field and 1/20 from long range. That's unfathomably bad and shocking to see after a 12/20 first half from deep. The Pacers made eight of their first nine outside shots and still finished 13/40 (32.5%) from three-point range.

"I think we didn’t get as many stops, didn’t transition as much, get our ball moving as much, so, worse shots generated in the second half, and we also had some good looks that we missed," Pacers guard Andrew Nembhard said postgame.

After scoring 35 points in the first quarter, the Pacers scored 34 in the second half. They completely fell apart. The Celtics will feel good about the adjustments they made in the third and fourth quarters, and star wing Jaylen Brown finally came alive in that period. But the Pacers beat themselves with a dreadful offensive half – almost certainly their worst of the season.

"Certainly some of it’s make or miss. We needed to keep moving the ball more. And I think we had fifteen assists in the first half and four in the second," Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle said postgame. "We couldn’t get the ball to stick and it did some, obviously. I thought we sustained tempo better in the New Orleans game than we did tonight."

So, despite signs of life for more than half of the action, the Pacers lost again. It was their fifth-consecutive defeat, but they had a fourth quarter lead in three of those games. The other two? Losses to the lowly Wizards and Pelicans.

It's a confusing time for the Pacers, who have to turn around and play again Tuesday. In the meantime, some noteworthy things happened in Pacers-Celtics beyond the 20-point collapse.

Injuries? Again?

Will this ever end?

T.J. McConnell missed this game with left knee soreness, his first absence since an early-season hamstring injury. There were signs that a point guard injury had hit the team when Kam Jones was called up from the G League Winter Showcase a day early.

No McConnell was certainly a factor in the Pacers offense dying in Boston – the bench had less shot creation, which made some inconsistency inevitable. Quenton Jackson led the bench groups, and he is dynamic. But he's also more of a combo guard than a true point guard.

McConnell is questionable tonight as the Pacers host the Bucks, suggesting this isn't a long-term injury. Isaiah Jackson, meanwhile, went down mid game with a head injury and only played for 2:23. While his stats haven't popped of late, I have thought his motor and energy have been noticeable since the NBA Cup break started. Losing him was big for the Pacers, who first turned to James Wiseman before going small in crunch time.

Jackson does have a concussion, so he won't play in Pacers-Bucks. Wiseman will be needed for his final game under his current 10-day pact. After that, the Pacers may have to consider some options at center with Jackson and Bradley (fractured thumb) banged up. Neither player is likely to contribute toward the Pacers hardship eligibility, so a standard transaction may need to take place. Time will, as always, tell.

Kam Jones, debut.

Kam Jones joined the Pacers for this game as an emergency point guard, and he made his NBA debut with 42 seconds to go in action. The outcome had already been decided.

Jones took, and made, his only shot attempt – a layup with four seconds left. He's 1/1 with two points as a pro and is +2.

Small sample size notes aside, Jones didn't play enough to leave any impressions of his NBA abilities. But it's noteworthy that he is finally healthy enough to be an option for the blue and gold. What he does with real opportunities will be telling.

Thompson and Furphy, better

The Pacers once again changed their starting lineup, bringing Thompson in for Q Jackson. Between McConnell's injury and the starting five playing quite poorly in New Orleans, this shift made good sense for Monday's game, though starting Q Jackson still is the Pacers best alignment, to me, once McConnell is back (Ben Sheppard or Aaron Nesmith should start when they return).

Regardless, Thompson took his opportunity and turned it into 13 points, a career high, while managing tough defensive assignments. He went cold in the second half like every other Pacer but still turned in a good outing.

I remain tepid about Thompson with the starters. He rarely gets defended despite making shots at a decent rate. But he has been better about taking space in his last few appearances, which has expanded the number of ways he can impact the offense. He should still be playing and in the rotation without question and proved why in this game.

Johnny Furphy was good again, too. He had five rebounds, two assists, and a steal in 23 minutes – his defense has been quite good recently. After scoring a career high on Saturday, Furphy continued to show what he can do even on an off shooting night.

The improvements of those two players, combined with Jarace Walker's necessary opportunities, left just one minute of action for Garrison Mathews. Keep an eye on that with the contract guarantee deadline coming up and the Pacers suddenly having a need at center. The young wings, injured players, and streaky shooters will all look for a win tonight against Milwaukee.

Thank you for reading. I hope the Holiday season has been good to you. If you want these stories delivered directly to your email inbox so there is no need to rely on social media or google searches for Pacers/Fever information, sign up below.