A Cold Month in Indianapolis

The Indiana Pacers have had a rough four weeks. What has gone wrong in Indiana’s capital?

[Ed. note: This article was originally published at raymondsimms.com, a temporary personal blog I ran during the 2022-23 basketball season. It was ported over to Crucial Baskets on April 20, 2024.]

On January 8th, 2023, the Indiana Pacers capped off the first half of their season with a 116-111 victory over the Charlotte Hornets. This win gave the Pacers a 23-18 record through 41 games, putting them in sixth place in the Eastern Conference. It was the team’s best 41-game start since 2019-20 (26-15) and a surprise surge from a young team that Vegas expected to win just 24 or 25 games.

Unfortunately, the Pacers have had a less endearing start to the second half of their schedule. Indiana has gone on a 2-12 slump since their win over Charlotte.

Indiana has suffered a drop in both offensive and defensive rating during this slump. The Pacers dropped from 18th in defensive rating pre-slump to 23rd since then. More notably, however, they plummeted from 14th in offensive rating to last in the league during the slump.

Offensively, the Pacers struggled from all zones and in terms of playmaking during this slump. Their 2-point percentage dropped from 21st to 29th and their free throw percentage fell from 7th to 12th. but the more glaring wounds were in their three-point percentage (9th to 26th) and assist-to-turnover ratio (11th to 29th).

You don’t have to look far to uncover the mystery behind Indiana’s descent from sixth in the East on January 8th to 10th in the conference by the morning of February 7th. The team lost star point guard Tyrese Haliburton due to compounding injuries and he has slightly struggled during his recent re-acclimation to the lineup.

Haliburton is having a career year in just his third season in the NBA. In 43 games played this season, he’s averaging 20.0 points, 10.3 assists, 3.9 rebounds, and 1.7 steals per game. He currently leads the league in assists per game, and his scoring and assist averages are career highs. Unsurprisingly, these numbers earned Haliburton an All-Star reserve nod. It’s clear that the Pacers have their Point Guard of Tomorrow.

However, Haliburton’s banner year took a slight pause on January 11th. Late in the third quarter of Indiana’s game at the New York Knicks, Haliburton hit the deck after Isaiah Hartenstein blocked his layup. One of Hartenstein’s feet subsequently landed on Haliburton’s leg while corralling the rebound.

As a result, Haliburton left the game and didn’t return, and the Pacers went on to lose the game. The diagnosis turned out to be a sprained left elbow and a left knee bone contusion, sidelining him for 10 games. Indiana would go 1-9 sans Hali.

A talent like him went a long way towards drawing in defenses and finding scoring opportunities for other players. That’s why the team not only saw a drop in their offense, but specifically saw the biggest drops in their three-point shooting and assist-to-turnover ratio.

Haliburton returned for their February 2nd matchup versus the Los Angeles Lakers, but the team has still gone 1-2 since being reinstated. While it’s fantastic that he’s back, it should be noted he’s coming back from two injuries, so it’s fair to assume he’s not completely right-as-rain despite being fit to play.

Haliburton picked up 26 points and 12 assists in the losing effort versus Los Angeles. In the following two games, he still dished out nine and 11 assists, respectively, but his scoring volume was somewhat muted. He scored just 10 points on 12 shots in a win against Sacramento. Haliburton improved in the most recent game with 15 points on 10 shots, but it was in a losing effort where he picked up four fouls in the process.

The Indiana Pacers were the darling of the league through its first 41 games due to their surprising start led by rising star Tyrese Haliburton. Without him, however, the Pacers lost a lot of ground, thanks in part to not having the playmaking and scoring gravity the All-Star point would normally create. Fortunately, he has returned to kick off the month of February. We’ll see in time if his return can once again make the Indiana Pacers a formidable team in the East.