The Indiana Pacers are off to an inconsistent start and can point to their spotty performances in road games as a cause.
One of three NBA teams with at least 10 losses away from home, the Pacers will attempt to stop a seven-game road losing streak when they face the Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday night in New York.
The Pacers are 2-10 away from home after going 21-20 in road games last season and prevailing in Game 7 on the road in the second round of the playoffs against the New York Knicks. Indiana is winless away from home since a 134-127 victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Nov. 4, and its average margin of defeat in the skid is 12.9 points.
The latest setback was 122-111 to the Toronto Raptors in the Pacers’ final NBA Cup game on Tuesday night. Indiana never led, trailed by 24, and was outscored 65-48 in the first half after committing 14 turnovers of its 21 turnovers in the first half and allowing an 18-2 run.
The rough first half in Toronto occurred two nights after the Pacers scored 68 points in the first half, led by 19, and took a 15-point loss to the host Memphis Grizzlies.
“A lack of force, a lack of overall force led to a lack of leverage,” Indiana coach Rick Carlisle said after his team joined Toronto and the New Orleans Pelicans as the only teams with double-digit road losses. “We own the first half. We’ve had too many stretches like that. We all own it, and we need to fix it.”
Indiana’s Tyrese Haliburton scored 30 points on Tuesday after being held to eight on Sunday. It was only the second time this season he scored at least 20 in a road game this season.
The Pacers hope to stop their road woes against a short-handed opponent. The Nets are missing leading scorer Cam Thomas due to strained left hamstring and could be without other key players.
Besides Thomas, starters Dorian Finney-Smith (sprained left ankle), Cameron Johnson (sprained left ankle) and Ben Simmons (sore left knee) are questionable.
Those players sat out when the Nets took a 128-102 loss to the host Chicago Bulls on Monday. It was Brooklyn’s most lopsided defeat this season and the second setback of at least 20 points in the Nets’ current three-game losing streak.
Brooklyn used a different starting lineup for the seventh straight game but shot 40 percent from the field after finishing at a season-low 38 percent in a 100-92 loss to the Orlando Magic on Sunday.
The Nets trailed Chicago by as many as 29, allowed 62 points in the paint, and were outrebounded 54-41 after losing the rebounding battle 52-33 on Sunday.
“Losing a second half by 20, it’s not good enough,” said Nets coach Jordi Fernandez, who also saw his team concede 32 fast-break points to the Bulls. “We have higher standards, the way we work, the way we play, the way we compete. And this was not good.
“(The Bulls) scored 56 in the first half, and they scored 72 in the second half. So our defense was extremely bad. And our players know that our ball pressure has to be better, our competitiveness, our communication.”
The injuries are creating chances for others to see extensive minutes, including Dariq Whitehead. The 20-year-old forward, who had a total of three points in four previous career NBA games, scored 18 points on Monday. He hit six of Brooklyn’s 14 3-pointers.
Others seeing extensive minutes because of the team’s injuries are Tyrese Martin and Shake Milton. Martin scored 30 on Nov. 27 at Phoenix and finished with 15 on Monday. Milton added 14 at Chicago two games after scoring 22 on Friday in Brooklyn’s 123-100 loss to the Magic.
–Field Level Media
