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Have Indiana Pacers Turned Corner?

By Simon Smith

Oct 26, 2016; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Indiana Pacers center Myles Turner (33) dunks against the Dallas Mavericks at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Indiana defeats Dallas 130-121 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 26, 2016; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Indiana Pacers center Myles Turner (33) dunks against the Dallas Mavericks at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Indiana defeats Dallas 130-121 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports /
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Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports /

Shaky Start

It’s one thing to promise a new playing style and an overall different brand of basketball. But it’s another to actually implement such a change once the regular season starts. And that’s certainly what the Pacers learned in the early stages of this season.

No matter how talented a team’s roster, an adjustment period is likely to occur.

The Pacers last season ranked 17th in the league in points per game with 102.2. Further, they ranked 23rd in the league in offensive rating with 102.4 points scored per 100 possessions.

Naturally with numbers such as these, adjustments needed to be made in order to keep pace with the league-wide trend of “pace and space.”

So despite the forecasts of the front office and the new head coach, this transition process has not been easy. Through the first 33 games of this season, the Pacers were 15-18 and were10th in the Eastern Conference.

Coming off a 45-win season, this was not the direction the franchise had intended.

Areas For Concern

Here are some of the notable numbers that the Pacers produced during their shaky 33 games to commence this season:

Points Per Game: 103.9 (Ranked 18th)
Field Goal Percentage: 45.0 percent (14th)
Offensive Rating: 102.5 (20th)
Assists Per Game: 22.0 (15th)

In the modern NBA, a team is never going to advance with numbers such as these. When delving further, a few areas of their shooting prowess stands out:

Shots Taken Between 10-14 Feet: 38.3 percent (21st)
Shots Taken Between 15-19 Feet: 34.8 percent (21st)

These areas are clearly extremely poor, but will be more noteworthy when their recent hot spell is outlined.

In terms of the defensive end of the floor, this was also cause for concern earlier this season. With such an emphasis on improving their offence, the Pacers’ defense was unrecognizable to what we had come to expect over the past several years.

Poor Defense

By was of comparison, the Pacers last gave up 120 points or more in a game seven times over the course of 82 games. This season, this had already occurred six times in the first 21 games. Among these were giving up 131 points on the road against the Portland Trail Blazers.

And then two games later, the Pacers gave up a staggering 141 points against the Golden State Warriors, which included Klay Thompson nailing 60 points before the end of the third quarter.

So clearly, work had to be done moving forward.

But recently, there have been signs of life.