Pacers season is officially fully back in swing. Before I recap the Pacers’ summer, I am going to discuss the Pacers first game of the season.
Wednesday night, the Pacers came back and outlasted the Pistons in a 115-109 battle versus Detroit that was capped off by a Tyrese Haliburton game winning 3. There were 18 lead changes, and the largest lead of the game was a Detroit 12-point lead early in the third quarter.
Notable Stats
Myles Turner: 20 points, nine rebounds, four blocks, +20
Pascal Siakam: 19 points, eight rebounds, nine assists, +15
Bennedict Mathurin: 27 minutes, 19 points (5-for-8 FG, 7-for-9 FT)
The new-look Pistons came out firing with Cade Cunningham looking exactly how people expected him to progress, being that he was the first overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft. Rick Carlisle debuted some new players to Indiana’s lineup, most notably being the previous second overall pick of the 2020 draft James Wiseman (Warriors), and the Pacers’ own second-round pick Enrique Freeman. Other players included Bennedict Mathurin’s return from last year's season ending injury and the reduction of minutes for Ben Sheppard. Wiseman had six points in four minutes, which was halted by a scary non-contact injury that seemed to be an Achilles problem.
Tyrese Haliburton showed that he is still the superstar for the Pacers, even with a not so pretty statline for his standards (6-for-18 FG, 1-for-9 3FG). This is because of his unwavering confidence, hitting the game sealing shot to make the score 113-107 with 20.8 left in the game. Pascal Siakam showed the reason he stayed alongside Haliburton in Indy, giving him the assist for the slightly contested shot. They both are looking to build off of these performances in an upcoming game versus a new look New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden (Oct. 25, ESPN).
Pacers’ Playoff Recap, Summer Recap and Floor/Ceiling
Playoff Recap
The Pacers were the surprise of the postseason. Regardless of what fans tell you from any team, from the Bucks to the Knicks to even the Pacers, their run was surprising to all. Though they faced the injury-riddled Bucks and injury-riddled Knicks they advanced as a No. 6 seed all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals, where they were met and swept by the Celtics, where all losses came from games where they at one point held a lead. All games but one (game two) ended within five points. Those Celtics would go on to win the Finals. Summer Recap
New acquisitions for the Pacers include:
Free agency:
James Wiseman (2 yr, $4,784,366)
Quenton Jackson (2-way, 1 yr, ~$135,000)
NBA Draft
First round
N/A
Second round
35: Johnny Furphy (4 yr, $8,589,485 after incentives)
49: Tristen Newton (2-way, 1 yr, $578,577)
50: Enrique Freeman (2-way, 1 yr, $578,577)
A 1-4 Summer League record saw improvement most notably to Jarace Walker’s game (last year’s top-6 pick) as he averaged 18 ppg on 42.6% from the field and 45.8% from 3, on six 3s a game, on top of 7.3 rebounds, 4.8 assists, on steal and one block per game.
Pacers’ Floor and Ceiling
Per teamrankings.com, a great site for expertly projected statistics, they see the Pacers going 47-35 (the exact same as last year) with an 83.8% chance of making the playoffs. My not-so-expert projection for this Pacer team sees a slight increase in wins, coming off of a solid ECF run. I see this team going 49-33, and making the playoffs as the No. 6 seed again. The reason for this is their easy strength of schedule (ranking 24th on powerrankingsguru.com), and newly found team chemistry.
This team has the ability to have any one guy step up on a night by night basis from the bottom of the rotation, to TJ McConnell, all the way up through every single starter. The ceiling for this team is a Finals run, depending on injuries. Neglecting any chance of injury to any team this team has the fast paced offense and shot making ability to outscore any one team. With their newly garnered experience with a deep playoff run, this can only play to their benefit. Granted, their floor also depends on their seeding.
Having to face off in back to back to back series against the Bucks, Knicks and Celtics again would be tough, so any one series with a lesser opponent would allow them to slow down a little and focus on game by game adjustments as opposed to rapid adjustments, as was seen in the series versus Boston.
Final projection: 49-33, second round
Ceiling projection: Finals run
Floor projection: Play-in team
Pacers’ Upcoming Schedule
@ New York Knicks, Oct. 25, 7:30 pm ET, ESPN
vs. Philadelphia 76ers, Oct. 27, 3:30 pm ET, Bally Sports IN/League Pass
@ Orlando Magic, Oct. 28, 7 pm ET, Bally Sports IN/League Pass vs. Boston Celtics, Oct. 30, 7 p.m. ET, ESPN
HN's NFL Power Rankings: Week 11
