Three takeaways from Indiana Pacers terrible loss to Washington Wizards
The Indiana Pacers had one of their worst losses of the season, if not the worst, on Friday night. They were crushed by the Washington Wizards on the road. Prior to the night, the Wizards had three wins on the season, and they were all against crummy opponents.
Indiana looked dismal on both ends in defeat. Offensively, they scored 123 points, a solid-enough number. But that's below their season average. They turned the ball over 15 times, never got a rhythm, and shot 28/53 (52.8%) from inside the paint.
Defensively, the Pacers were atrocious. The Wizards scored a season-high 137 points as they shot it well from deep, got to the foul line, and scored 68 points in the paint. The blue and gold offered little resistance. On both ends, Indiana looked atrocious on Friday night.
"Their defensive intensity picked up and our shot selection hasn't been great," Pacers assistant coach Mike Weinar said of his team's struggles at halftime on the Bally Sports Indiana broadcast of the game. None of those things changed in the second half.
Indiana fell to 13-10 on the season with the loss, and they have to turn around and take on the Minnesota Timberwolves on the road tonight. The blue and gold will need to bounce back and look at the takeaways from this game quickly.
Indiana's veteran starters weren't good enough
The Pacers started three veterans — Bruce Brown, Buddy Hield, and Myles Turner. At different times throughout the season, that trio has been vital to Indiana's success.
In Washington, though, those three all struggled at the same time. Turner was 2/10 and played for under 20 minutes as Isaiah Jackson was more effective at the five. Brown shot 2/7 and didn't find other ways to impact the game like he does on most nights. Hield went 4/14 and continued an inaccurate stretch.
The Pacers typically need at least one of those guys to step up to have a chance. The blue and gold got good play from some bench guys, and Obi Toppin as well as Tyrese Haliburton were fine, if not underwhelming, as starters.
The veterans all struggled, and that made consistent success almost impossible for Indiana.
Defensive presence was lacking
The Pacers defense has been awful all season, but in some of their recent wins, they have had a few stretches of good-enough play to win. They just have to be mediocre on the less glamorous end of the floor to be in games most nights.
Against the Wizards, Indiana never looked effective on D. Getting stops was a chore. At the point of attack, there was little opposition. At the rim, help was late and force was missing. Washington tore the Pacers up.
"Our presence and our friction level at the level of the screen. And obviously getting out in transition," Weinar said of what the Pacers needed to improve on the defensive end at halftime. None of that happened.
The Wizards scored 78 points in the second and third quarters combined. They shot 56.5% from the field and made nearly half of their threes. Jordan Poole, Kyle Kuzma, and Corey Kispert looked unstoppable. The Pacers needed to be much, much better on that end of the floor.
Isaiah Jackson played one of his best games ever
Jackson, a reserve center, was phenomenal. His athleticism, energy, and defense were the only things keeping the Pacers in the game at times.
The 21-year old shot 10/13 from the field on his way to 20 points. He grabbed 13 rebounds, six of which came on the offensive end. Jackson added an assist, steal, and block. His activity was impressive.
Despite trailing by double digits for most of the game, the Pacers played the Wizards to an even draw in Jackson's minutes. His 20 points led the team and could have been game changing if Indiana got more production elsewhere.
According to Basketball Reference's game score metric, it was one of Jackson's five best games in the pros. He was terrific on a night when nobody else was.
The Pacers hit the court for game action again in about six hours in Minnesota.
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