Pacers tell on themselves in loss to Raptors as winning streak ends
The Pacers winning streak is over after a loss to the Raptors, and they told on themselves in defeat.
INDIANAPOLIS – Rick Carlisle put the Indiana Pacers loss to the Toronto Raptors in perfect terms on Wednesday night: They told on themselves.
The Raptors dominated the game early, earning a 21 point lead in the first 9.5 minutes of action. Pascal Siakam was seeing double teams and felt uninvolved in the offense. Toronto dominated the paint and physicality battles.
After 12 minutes, the visitors held a 39-18 lead. It was a putrid start for the Pacers. But they told on themselves. Almost immediately to start the second quarter, Siakam was more involved and scored seven points in 84 seconds. The Pacers found paint openings and mixed in a few stops. Their deficit dropped to 15, and they ended up outscoring the Raptors in the period.
Tony East
So, it wasn’t that the Pacers weren’t able to match Toronto’s physically. It wasn’t that the Raptors style was too challenging for Indiana Wednesday night. Rather, it was that the Pacers just didn’t execute the way they are capable of early.
"Just the level of physical posture, level of collective will, attitude," Carlisle said of the Pacers' issues to open the game. "But look, the last three quarters, we told on ourselves. It's 48 minutes. We didn't get it done." The Pacers watched the first nine minutes of the game back for review between the final buzzer and postgame press conferences.
The bottom has fallen out often for the Pacers this year. Most often, it happens in the second quarter. On occasion, in the fourth. Rarely has it happened in the first quarter, and those instances feel different.
When a dismal stretch comes after the first quarter, a team has already shown their gameplan and what they are capable of. It signals poor play — not good, to be clear. But subpar stretches do happen to 9-32 teams.
When the start of a game is a disaster, especially when said start is followed by more than capable play, a team shows they weren’t ready to execute or match physicality. That’s different from poor play, and it's what happened to the Pacers on Wednesday night.
They proved it with an improved last 40 minutes, which is both productive and frustrating for the team. In each of the final three quarters, the Pacers outscored the Raptors. With four minutes left in the game, Toronto’s lead was 103-99. If the Pacers lost the first quarter by 10 instead of 21, they’d have been winning by seven at that moment.
Instead, the furious comeback left them gassed. The Raptors rolled in the final minutes and ended the game up by 14 points, a fitting result given Toronto’s early domination.
Even still, it was a familiar story for the Pacers. The final 38.5 minutes of the game? 90-83 Pacers. The first 9.5 minutes? 32-11 Raptors. As it goes for this team.
"I think they just came more physically ready and kind of bullied us on both sides of the floor," Pacers guard Andrew Nembhard said. "Picked us up, kind of put us on our heels a little bit. That's what we're talking about."
In the second half, the Pacers didn't shoot well but took care of the ball and won the rebounding battle. They outscored the Raptors 53-48. That’s a totally normal game – yet they still lost by 14 and had their previously Eastern Conference leading three-game win streak come to an end thanks to a dismal start. Those inconsistencies have been there so often for the blue and gold this season.
"A loss is a loss at the end of the day. It's tough to view it that way. There's obviously some positives we could take from it, but I feel like we've just got to learn from it first and foremost and try to move on," forward Jarace Walker said.
And thus, the Pacers reach the halfway point at 9-32. That’s the same number of losses that they had last season in total. Everyone predicted a worse record, but it’s still shocking to see it laid out.
And they’ll be the last team in the NBA to reach 10 wins after New Orleans won on Wednesday. "I'm not sure how much we've accomplished," Nembhard said of the Pacers at the halfway point. "But I think [we've] learned how to learn how to play through adversity. Be a pro every day, coming to compete and having a standard no matter what. I think that's what we can learn from this situation."
Better starts are needed — though that hasn’t been an issue for the Pacers in 2026 until this game against Toronto. The bottom falling out? That happens often. The Pacers will try to avoid it when they host the Pelicans Friday.
Pascal Siakam, defended by everyone
Siakam is having an awesome season. The Pacers campaign, both from coaches and players, for him to be an All-Star is at full speed. And truly, while words are helpful, Siakam hardly needs a campaign with how he’s playing.
Rounding all of his major per-game stats down to the nearest half nets averages of 23.5 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 3.5 assists per game (he is very close to both 7.0 boards and 4.0 rebounds, but rounding down is just as useful). The only players reaching all three of those stats right now? Siakam, Luka Doncic, Nikola Jokic, Deni Avdija, and Giannis Antetokounmpo. All international players, and three of the five are in the Western Conference.
The only thing holding Siakam back is, obviously, the Pacers 9-32 record. And it can’t be overlooked. But the team's net rating is -4.8 with Siakam on the court and -13.9 (!) with him off. He is not the reason for their record.
Outside of All-Star campaigning, this game was about defensive attention. Watch this touch from Siakam. It was the first touch/play of Pacers-Raptors.
He’s seeing double teams before he even catches the ball. The paint is crowded. It hasn’t slowed him statistically, but it does make me wonder what type of season he’d be having in his normal role. He was an All-Star in a typical setting last season.
Managing aggressive doubles like that, as well as packed paints, makes everything challenging. It is just as much on Siakam to keep the ball moving when he sees bodies as it is for his teammates to be active and get open when their star is swarmed.
It’s nothing new for anyone. Siakam has been doubled before, and Pacers players frequently react to extra attention for Haliburton or Siakam. But the percentage of time that Siakam is seeing single coverage is lower than ever.
"It's been tough. I'm sure probably a little bit more than I've seen before," Siakam said of the double team volume he's facing. "It's just constant. I have to continue to figure out ways to attack it."
In the Pacers clunkiest moments, the activity when Siakam feels pressure is off. It’s something for them to focus on cleaning up in the second half of the season. The star forward finished with 26 points, 10 rebounds, and four assists against his former team.
Johnny Furphy logs a double double
Johnny Furphy has posted double-digit points and double-digit rebounds before. For the first time ever against Toronto, he did both in the same game.
It's his first career double double and is the statistical representation of his strong play of late. Furphy can really rebound, especially for his size. He's now mixing in a drive or two every game and making a three here and there. The second-year wing is capable of more nights like this, and his play has been among the most encouraging things for the Pacers all season.
I asked Furphy when he realized rebounding was a strength. "That's something ]that's] always kind of come naturally to me. Just always wanted to grab rebounds. It's not something I'm necessarily thinking about. That's just something I enjoy doing no matter what," he said.
Furphy's defensive rebound rate is 20.4%. Only Isaiah Jackson and Jeremiah Robinson-Early have a higher rate among Pacers players with five-plus appearances for the Pacers this season. Furphy has a nose for the ball, and the scoring is coming with it.
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