3 Biggest Culprits for the Indiana Pacers Slow Start

The Indiana Pacers are off to another underwhelming start to the season as they have a 3-8 record and are 11th in the Eastern Conference.

Fans are beyond frustrated with where this team is at and the excitement and hope that filled offseason discussions have all but faded. Suffering through last season's 19-63 record was supposed to be the end of watching a losing team, but here we are again.

When diving into the reason for the Pacers slow start, there are three things that I believe are the main issues: not being able to win without Haliburton, rebounding and three-point shooting. Let's take a deeper look.

1). Haliburton-less Pacers

Indiana is now 1-6 since Haliburton has been out with a hamstring injury, and their only win came on the road against an unproven Memphis Grizzlies team. The victory was much-needed in the moment, but unfortunately it did not lead to a momentum shifter like several hoped.

Making excuses for why they aren't winning games has become a part of the Pacers identity. Every game they lose there is a "but if" behind it.

-Dallas blows out Indiana on their home floor, BUT IF they played the first half like they did the second!
-The Bucks get their only win of the year, BUT IF we didn't run out of glass on the 3rd game in 4 nights.
-Indiana loses a close one to Philadelphia, BUT IF Haliburton and Zubac were healthy!
-Indiana loses by 20 to Miami, BUT IF Klay Thompson didn't make 7 threes!
-Brooklyn gets their ONLY win of the season on the Pacers home floor, BUT IF they hit more shots!
-The Super 6 Pacers fall to Hawks, BUT IF it wasn't the second night of a back-to-back!
-Denver outlasts Indiana in Mexico City, BUT IF we had more than 7 free throw attempts!
-Dallas' size is too much for Pacers to overcome, BUT IF we didn't get out rebounded 43-27 and made open shots...

You see the trend...there is always some excuse to why the Pacers fail to come up with wins whether it is a blowout loss or they lose a close game. But the bottom line is, this team was not built to win without Haliburton.

This front office needs to take a long hard look in the mirror and ask themselves why that is. Are injuries to other positions during Haliburton's absence part of that? Of course. But even at full-strength without their franchise point guard, they fail to look like a play-in team.

The reality is that the Pacers need to rethink how they construct their roster, with the understanding that Halliburton is likely to miss games throughout the season. Putting all their eggs in the Haliburton basket is a dangerous approach, especially given his injury history.

It is also unfair to place that much responsibility on his shoulders every single night. When Halliburton is unavailable, Indiana's chances of winning take a significant hit, and everyone around the organization knows it. That creates an enormous amount of pressure on their franchise player, who understands that if he goes down, the team's hopes of competing could go down with him.

The Pacers needs to build a roster that can win because of Halliburton, not one that can only win with him.

2. Rebounding

Nov 9, 2026; Dallas, Texas, USA; Indiana Pacers center Ivica Zubac (40) dunks the ball against the Dallas Mavericks during the first quarter at the American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Indiana Pacers are tied for 27th in total rebounds and just had one of their most inefficient nights on the glass in Dallas, where they only had a total of 27 rebounds.

They are dead last in contested rebounds, offensive rebounds and offensive rebound chances. Their inability to impact the game on this side of the floor doesn't allow for many second-chance points and limits the number of opportunities they have. This would explain why the Pacers are also dead last in second chance points with 10.4 per game.

I expect the rebounding numbers to get better once Zubac is able to play more than approximately 20 minutes per game (he is still leading the team with 7.7 per game), but it is a team effort. Toppin, Walker and Haliburton are all averaging career-highs in this category, but they need more from everyone else. Zubac's gravity will lead to more opportunities for others to get cleaner lanes to attack the glass, and they need to do it on both the offensive and defensive side of the floor.

3. Three Point Shooting

Nov 4, 2026; Memphis, Tennessee, USA; Indiana Pacers guard Aaron Nesmith (23) reacts during the third quarter against the Memphis Grizzlies at FedExForum. Mandatory Credit: Petre Thomas-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

According to Basketball Refernce, the average percentage from the three-point line league-wide this season is 36%. How many Pacers have shot greater than that? Just four. And two of them are Ben Sheppard (played 1 game and went 1-2) and Tyrese Haliburton (played in just 4 games and is at 37%).

This means that the only players who are shooting better than league average through the first 11 games of the season for the Pacers are Andrew Nembhard and Larry Nance Jr. That is horrific, especially for a team that loves to shoot threes.

Obi Toppin is just below league average at 35.9%. Pascal Siakam is shooting 35.4% and Quenton Jackson is shooting 35.3%.

Everyone else is around 32% or worse:
Aaron Nesmith - 32.1%
Jarace Walker - 31%
Jay Huff - 28.6%
Braden Smith - 28.6%
Kobe Brown - 25%
Kelly Oubre Jr. - 24.2%
Jalen Slawson - 20%

Indiana thrives on generating open looks and knocking them down and that has been a huge part of their lackluster start to the season. If any of these players below 36% just increased their percentages by a few points, maybe the record looks a little different. But the guys Indiana consistently relies on to knock down threes have been struggling to do so, and that is why you see low-scoring efforts.

Getting Haliburton back will most definitely help the team generate even better looks, and with his ability to knock down shots, it will improve the overall three-point percentage. But it all circles back to what I said at the beginning. This team has to find ways to not be so dependant on Haliburton to find success.

You can follow me on X @AlexGoldenNBA and listen to my daily podcast, Setting The Pace, wherever you get your podcasts.

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