Pacers heading out West without Haliburton but with importance practice time

INDIANAPOLIS – The Pacers got a late-season blessing with their recent schedule. Last Thursday, they hosted the Charlotte Hornets, then played just one game in the next five days. Outside of built-in schedule breaks, it's rare that a team gets multiple days to practice within a single week.

It comes at a good time for the Pacers. They've been miserable on defense of late, and turnovers continue to stack up. The result? Six-straight losses. With draft positioning an obvious consideration for the team, losing on its own is not bad. But getting thumped every night (-88 across the last half-dozen games) and having the same issues is concerning, especially when most of the players on the court are fighting for opportunities in the future.

"Everything. Everything. Closeouts, transition, shell drill, help, everything you could possibly imagine," Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle said of the team's defensive focuses during their Tuesday practice. "And then with guys like Kawhi Leonard, you've got to be ready to double-team and fly around and those kinds of things. So there's a lot going on."

Circle City Spin

The Indiana Pacers and Indiana Fever, up close

Circle City SpinTony East

The Pacers are headed on a road trip where they will attempt to fix some of their issues. Sometimes, a week away can lead to bonding and better basketball. The Pacers have some harder opponents coming on the schedule, though, and currently rank 28th in defensive rating (122.2) and 29th in turnover rate (17.2%) since the All-Star break.

So there's a lot to clean up. In the meantime, a few practices produced several updates about the state of the Pacers.

Tyrese Haliburton's shingles recovery

As covered here, Tyrese Haliburton hasn't been with the team since the All-Star break after coming down with shingles. Even in a season that he isn't playing, losing Haliburton's energy and missing some time where he can evaluate his team from the bench is a loss for everyone.

It is, of course, also a hit for Haliburton as he rehabs from a torn achilles. His workout schedule is on hold right now as he recovers from shingles. "He's been limited because of this. He was making a lot of progress on the floor before it happened with conditioning. He was playing 2-on-2, 3-on-3, 4-on-4. I think he was even up to 5-on-5 with our interns and with our low-minute guys," Carlisle said. The fact that Haliburton had reached 5-on-5 is significant even if he's not going to return this season.

"But then something like this happens, it takes you out of being on the court and sweating and those kinds of things. So we'll have to see how long it takes for him to catch back up. There's no way to know a timetable. But the important thing is that he's doing better, he's going to be 100% fine. We just don't know the exact timetable," Carlisle added.

Carlisle shared that he was initially told Haliburton wouldn't re-join the Pacers on their upcoming four-game trip out West. But he's feeling better and things are trending in the right direction.

Jalen Slawson practices with the Pacers

After being with the Noblesville Boom for a few days after signing his two-way contract, Jalen Slawson joined the Pacers for a practice on Tuesday.

Slawson shared that last Friday, he was in Houston with the Boom taking a pregame nap. That's when his agent called to tell him some important news: the Pacers wanted to sign him to a two-way contract.

Not a bad reason to be woken up. "Definitely not [upset]," Slawson joked. That night, he had 30 points and 11 assists for the Boom, then signed his two-way contract the next day.

It's a big deal for Slawson, who has been out of the NBA since the 2023-24 campaign. He was a rookie at the time and spent his first season with the Sacramento Kings. Since then, he's improved. His biggest jump in production has come this season – Slawson is averaging 19.3 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 5.4 assists per game in the G League.

He spent training camp and preseason with the Pacers, then all season with their affiliate team. In short: he already knows the system. "I went into the season or G League training camp knowing many of the principles of the offense, principles of the defense," he explained. That set him up for a strong start.

Slawson actually credited the Pacers system for his productive year to date, he fits the style well and has been among the G League's best players. Along the way, he's been able to lean on one of his childhood friends: Pacers wing Aaron Nesmith. The two grew up near each other and have been friends for a while. Slawson said Nesmith has been "just a phone call away," all season and that Nesmith helped him adjust to the pro game in the first place.

The game is slowing down for him, too, and he'll get a chance to show that in the NBA. He's eligible for 13 appearances for the Pacers down the stretch – the team has 21 games remaining, so some strategy will be involved when it comes to choosing when Slawson is active.

When he gets a chance to hit the hardwood, Slawson just wants to prove that he belongs. "Just that I'm an NBA player," Slawson said of his goals. "I just want to take advantage of whatever opportunity that I'm given and whatever that may be, I just want to make the most of it."

Post-trade battle with Bennedict Mathurin and Isaiah Jackson incoming

Wednesday night, the Pacers will battle the Clippers in Los Angeles. Ivica Zubac won't play, but Kobe Brown will. It will be his first-ever game against the Clippers.

On the other side, Bennedict Mathurin and Isaiah Jackson will get a similar experience — it will be the first time they've played against the Pacers in their careers. Law Murray of The Athletic, who spends a lot of time around the Clippers and is one of my favorite NBA reporters, asked Mathurin about the upcoming matchup.

"It's going to be fun man," Mathurin began. "I had a great time over there (with the Pacers)... there's no hate toward both parties. It's pretty much pure love. I was 20-years old and a couple days when I got drafted there. So it's pretty much all I know when it comes to the NBA. So I feel like it's good to be on a different part of the game right now, on a different team being able to compete against my team. So it's going to be fun, man."

Still shirtless. That's Bennedict Mathurin.

So far, he's averaging 18.8 points per game for the Clippers and has been asked to be an initiator. His numbers are up across the board despite poor efficiency to this point.

Jackson, meanwhile, is the team's third-string center and hasn't played much. His chances come when the older Brook Lopez can't suit up or when fellow youngster Yanic Konan Niederhäuser is in foul trouble.

Said Pascal Siakam of the upcoming game against old teammates: "I think it'll be good. It'll be fun for those guys too, I'm sure they probably have a lot they want to prove and things like that, so should be fun. I think seeing familiar faces, Benn has been here forever, same thing with Isaaiah, I'm sure they're excited about the opportunity. So yeah, it should be good."

Siakam went on to praise Benn's fit with the Clippers thanks to his driving ability. The post-trade battle should be full of emotion for both teams.

(And also, Siakam on his wrist injury: "It's okay. It hurts. I think the way I play, falling a lot, it's not great. But yeah, it hurts. But I'm taping it, trying to be out there, making sure that I feel good. Obviously... I think that's the biggest thing is just knowing that I fall a lot on my wrist is just making it worse.")

Qunton Jackson, happy camper

I didn't have a chance to share Quenton Jackson's reaction to his contract being converted to a standard deal. He's had quite the journey from JuCo to the NBA, but he deserves everything he's gotten. Jackson is contributing to the Pacers and is a well-liked teammate – he provides energy that others feed off of both on the court and in the locker room.

"The team surprised me there, it caught me all the way off guard. It's just a blessing," Jackson said of his new deal. "I don't really like surprises like that. I didn't really see it coming honestly... But I just appreciate them for going out of their way to do that."

Carlisle told Jackson that he reached the top of one mountain and he's now at the bottom of another. That's been the story of his entire career, but being celebrated by his teammates and receiving his biggest contract yet is a nice temporary mountaintop.

Thank you for reading. I'm heading out West to watch the Pacers play three games, including their to-be emotional outing against the Clippers. Subscribe to not miss any of the stories from the trip.