Pacers show more fight, but Rockets style proves too much
The rebounding, problematic again.
INDIANAPOLIS – My headline the first time the Pacers played the Rockets this season was "Pacers can't grab boards, or a win, in Houston." That was from late December, but it very much applies to what happened on Monday night in Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
Houston had 21 more rebounds than the Pacers in the first meeting between the two teams. It's what they do. Currently, the Rockets lead the league in offensive rebound rate by a wide margin. Would round two, without Steven Adams, be any different?
No, not at all. The final margin on the glass was 56-33 Rockets. The Pacers shot a better percentage from the field, a much better percentage from deep, and had fewer turnovers yet still lost Monday night. The possession battle got out of hand – while the two teams were equal with 87 field goal attempts, Houston attempted 16 more free throws and made 15 more, a massive difference in a tight game.
"Pretty obvious that the rebounding and the free throw line were the two major factors in the game," Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle said just after sitting down for his postgame press conference. He had not even fielded a question yet.
Tony East
In some fairness to the Pacers, some of the rebounds they conceded in their first meeting with the Rockets were poor effort plays. That didn't happen this time around. Not that it's much better – they still were pummeled on the boards. But it was more so due to Houston's style and talent.
The Rockets do this to everybody, and that's something I wanted to explore postgame. Is there something the Pacers could have done better, schematically, to counter their opponent eating on the boards? Or is this just a talent disadvantage every team faces?
"They're just playing hard. They started playing small ball, and they had a couple of guys in there that was straight rebounding," Pacers center Isaiah Jackson said postgame. "When it gets to that point, we've just got to figure it out."
Alperen Sengun had seven offensive rebounds. Clint Capela and Amen Thompson each had four. Jabari Smith Jr chipped in a few. The Pacers, meanwhile, had seven offensive rebounds in total.
That was the biggest difference in the game. The Rockets ability to keep the Pacers out of the paint and draw fouls were the secondary challenges Indiana faced. The Pacers attempted 21 free throws in the game while the Rockets took 20... in just the fourth quarter – Carlisle said angles and pick-and-roll defense led to foul trouble. And the points in the paint battle favored the Rockets 58-48.
So while the Pacers were warm from three (12/26), had a great bench night (55 to 24 in second unit points), and took care of the ball, they still came up short. The Rockets style was too much.
"I think overall they're a very big crash team," Pacers guard Bennedict Mathurin said postgame. "They're pretty good. The rebounds, I feel like... hurt us in the fourth quarter."
It's a bad matchup for the Pacers, and one that exposed some of their weaknesses at center. They need to improve on the glass, against Houston or anybody, so their more-impressive nights elsewhere leads to more success.
Siakam reacts to All-Star
Pascal Siakam is a four-time All-Star, being named an Eastern Conference/World Team reserve on Sunday night. A well-deserved honor. His play, of course, deserves it, but I predicted that history would repeat itself and Siakam wouldn't make it due to the Pacers poor record.
The coaches decided otherwise. "Very well deserved," Rick Carlisle said, noting that Siakam got the fourth-most votes of any reserves. "If you factor in how tough our year has been, that fact points to the respect that he has in this league."
Siakam reacted to the honor postgame: "It's pretty cool. Pretty cool. It's hard for me to look at my journey. I'm not a look at my journey kind of guy. I just go day by day. But I think it's pretty cool just to see where I'm at. And just looking back also knowing that there could have been even a couple more [All-Stars] in there. It's a blessing. It's just a testament to the work and everything that I'm continuing to do and just showing up every single day, no matter what, working hard, being the best version of myself or at least trying to be the best version of myself," he began. "And I think it's also I just appreciate the support from everyone, like the organization, the fans. Everyone's been hitting me up, being on the court, just everyone's super excited for me. The coaching staff I think just for me, it's pretty cool to see a coach be behind you and just like a whole organization just believing in you.I can guarantee you that it's a great feeling to have, and I know that a lot of people look for that feeling when they're out there playing. I'm super blessed that I have that here. My teammates being behind me and supporting me, it just means a lot. And I'm really appreciative of everyone, and I'll be really fortunate and blessed to be able to represent the Pacers out there."
Isaiah Jackson's big night
Isaiah Jackson's zoomed-out stat line against the Rockets looks just normal – six points and six rebounds. But zoom in. Four assists, a season high, as well as four steals and two blocks. Jackson was productive and tremendous.
Basketball Reference's game score metric says it was his ninth-best game this season. I disagree, I think it's closer to three or four. He played with force, hit on the glass, kept the offense flowing, and didn't subtract with as many disastrous plays as he's had in recent games.
It stood out compared to recent performances. And on a night in which Jay Huff and Micah Potter didn't pop, Jackson was important.
As the Pacers keep trying to figure out the best way to deploy the centers they have before the trade deadline, nights like that are worth noting. Jackson seized an opportunity and will look to do so again vs Utah.
Thank you for reading. Tonight is "Pacers" vs "Jazz", then the trade deadline. Subscribe to not miss anything.
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