Pacers roll past Kings for fourth win in six tries. Is this real? They'll show it soon
The Pacers are winning games again. How much of that is the schedule?
INDIANAPOLIS – The Indiana Pacers have won four of their last six games. After starting 2-16 and often looking the part of a team with that record, the Pacers have lost just two games since November 27 and are putting together some better results.
Their most recent victory came on Monday, a 116-105 win over the Sacramento Kings. The Pacers won by double digits and were better for much of the night despite a crummy stretch (shocker) nearly doing them in. In the end, it was the Pacers defense getting it done – they conceded just four points in the final 5:58 of play.
"Just playing hard man," guard Bennedict Mathurin said of the team's late-game defense, and particularly his and Andrew Nembhard's. "We're doing a pretty good job, but there's still room for improvement."
Tony East
Emerging with a win four times in six tries is certainly noteworthy for a team that couldn't win at all early in the season. And anybody who started 2-16 has little business asking this question. But the next logical step for the Pacers is to figure out how much their recent results are due to improved play and how much is a product of a soft part of the schedule.
Three of the four wins came by double digits, an impressive feat against anyone in the NBA. The four victories, though, were against the Washington Wizards, Chicago Bulls (twice), and Sacramento Kings. Chicago has a better record than Indiana but has lost seven in a row while the Kings and Pacers have the same record. The Wizards are in the NBA's basement.
So, it's not exactly an impressive group of opponents. All four of them rank in the bottom eight in defensive rating. That's not nothing. But the Pacers aren't just winning because they are playing bad teams right now. Rather, they are clearly playing better basketball.
The lazy explanation is that you can just see it. Their defense ranks eighth in the NBA since this run of six games started, and the Pacers feel far more connected on that end of the floor. They've figured out the best ways to use Jay Huff, which has drastically improved the paint defense. Perimeter talents are showing their teeth on that end of the floor. Outside of two crummy runs – one against the Cavs, the other against the Nuggets – the Pacers defense has been overwhelmingly good the last half-dozen games. Truly, their improved play on that end extends beyond that stretch.
Their offense is 11th in this stretch, too, a more acceptable number for a team built on scoring in recent seasons. The advanced numbers matter less to me here. Early in the season, the story was often the Pacers inability to simply make shots. They have now shot 43.7% or better in eight-straight games, and almost all of those games featured a strong three-point percentage.
So, they've been better on both sides of the ball. Some will point to their opponents. But that doesn't feel right when the Pacers were bad against poor teams hardly one month ago. They fell to Brooklyn at home and couldn't score. The Jazz crushed them in Utah as the Pacers didn't stop anything. Dallas and Memphis, two under .500 clubs, beat them – the Grizzlies actually crushed them.
Right now, that isn't happening. The defense looks better, and the top three talents of Mathurin, Andrew Nembhard, and Pascal Siakam are all in a groove.
"Those three guys were great," head coach Rick Carlisle said after the game "Mathurin is playing really well. Defensively against Chicago, he was real solid. He hit huge shots the whole game.
"Pascal is a guy we take for granted because he just goes out there and he produces great numbers virtually every night," Carlisle continued. "A lot of people dismiss him because that's just what he does... Nembhard tonight was just really special. Those three guys are our three leaders."
All three are playing well (76 combined points) and shined again versus the Kings. That's just part of what has made the Pacers look more capable of late. They battle a solid, but not overwhelming, Philadelphia 76ers team on Friday, which will be the perfect test of their current level. Not long after, games against the Knicks, Celtics, Heat, Rockets, and Magic are coming. If the Pacers are still winning or stable by then, it will be obvious they're on to something.
The other big stories from Pacers-Kings
Ethan Thompson certainly looks like a player
Thompson did it again.
After his out-of-nowhere breakout against the Bulls over the weekend, Thompson started for the Pacers against Sacramento. He showed an ability to fit in while playing alongside groups in which he is clearly the fifth option, yet confident shot making has kept him on the floor with many groups. He looks like an awesome find for the Pacers so far.
His play early was more about fitting in and guarding. After three quarters of play, he had two rebounds and two steals as his only logged stats while shooting 2/4 from the field. Not a bad outing at all, but not nearly as exceptional as his big performance in the United Center.
In the final four minutes, he helped guide the Pacers to the win. Every loose ball or rebound was his. With the game still hanging in the balance late, Thompson pulled in three result-clinching offensive rebounds to seal the victory.
The rookie's final stat line: six points, five rebounds, two steals. He played for nearly 28 minutes, a remarkable feat for a two-way contract player who hadn't appeared in an NBA game 1o days ago.
"Huge," Nembhard said of Thompson's late-game play. "He's been playing really well in the last two games. Just making an impact in a winning way."
Thompson started the game, but it was his finish that got it done. It's early in his career, and his sample of play is small. But if it holds, this acquisition is a huge win for the Pacers.
Ben Sheppard's injury timeline revealed
Ben Sheppard has a calf strain, and it was revealed to be Grade 1 recently. Bummer for him and the Pacers – Sheppard was finally playing well for this team.
His timeline wasn't clear, but Carlisle talked more about his injury before the outing against the Kings. Later, it became known that Sheppard will be out at least 10 more days from the time of Pacers-Kings. That puts him on the shelf until at least December 18.
Any player missing time is obviously not a good thing. This specific instance is challenging in that Sheppard won't miss a third game, and thus contribute to the Pacers hardship contract eligibility, until Friday. By then, he will be about seven days away from possibly returning. So the Pacers, because of the NBA Cup break, may not get another hardship out of this injury. If they are eligible for another emergency contract, it would be due to the absences of Tyrese Haliburton, Kam Jones, Obi Toppin, and Aaron Nesmith.
Eventually, Sheppard will return and support a Pacers team, and a high-level trio, playing much better of late.
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