Mavericks hoping to end homestand on strong note against winless Pacers

The Dallas Mavericks end their five-game homestand on Wednesday night against the Indiana Pacers. Indiana may be the reigning Eastern Conference Champions, but Tyrese Haliburton tearing his Achilles in Game 7 of the NBA Finals seems to have started a trend, as Indiana is beaten to death with injuries.

Both of these teams could desperately use wins. Dallas is trying to keep pace in a stacked Western Conference, while Indiana... What are they even going for? They made the sneakily good decision to reacquire their 2026 first-round pick during the Finals, which now looks like the shrewdest move of the decade, as injuries could force them to tank this year.

Dallas is coming off a 101-94 loss to the OKC Thunder on Monday night. It looked like the Thunder were going to blow them out for most of the night until a late rally by the Mavericks brought them within one in the final few minutes. Unfortunately, some bad shot selection down the stretch cost them a chance to tie or take the lead, and the Thunder would go on to win.

Oct 27, 2025; Dallas, Texas, USA; Dallas Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg (32) looks on during the second half against the Oklahoma City Thunder at the American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images | Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

Cooper Flagg had his worst game of his brief NBA career thus far, putting up just 2 points, 2 rebounds, and 2 steals, shooting 1/9 from the floor. He was dealing with a left shoulder issue that was clearly impacting him, but he should be available for this game.

Indiana has been on a Western Conference kick to start the season, losing three straight games to the OKC Thunder, Memphis Grizzlies, and Minnesota Timberwolves. The Memphis game was a blowout, while the other two were much closer, with the OKC game going to double overtime.

But these are the two worst offenses in the NBA so far. Indiana can at least blame it on injuries. Dallas has been playing without Kyrie Irving, but they still believed they could contend without him. So far, that has not been the case. And they could be missing some more pieces outside of just Irving for this game.