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The Indiana Pacers are supposed to be a team on the rise this season.
After showing tons of promise in an up-and-down season last year, the belief was that Indiana was in prime position to contend for a playoff spot this year. Through the first part of the season, they had met that expectation. Their offense was incredibly potent, and while their defense remained a concern, they had mostly been able to overcome that.
Against the Orlando Magic on Sunday night, they couldn’t do anything right.
The Pacers fell to the Magic 128-116 in a game that wasn’t as close as the score indicated. The Pacers seemed lethargic and low energy after having an extended break following their win over the 76ers on November 14th. Head coach Rick Carlisle tried almost everything, with T.J McConnell, Ben Shepard, Jarace Walker and more all getting minutes early as the team tried to find a spark.
The game was concerning because the Pacers and the Magic are supposedly part of the same tier of team. For the Pacers to essentially get blown out on their home court, in front of a sell-out crowd at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, is a worrying sign for a team with playoff aspirations.
During Monday’s edition of The Ride With JMV, John spoke to Tony East of Forbes and Locked On Pacers. Tony gave his thoughts on if the loss to the Magic was unacceptable for a team like the Pacers.
“Absolutely! I mean especially given the team that they have talked about wanting to be. They want to make the playoffs, they want to be playing after the regular season ends in some capacity, and they sure looked like a team that could do that in their first 11 games, but if they want to be that level of team that they’ve talked about being, and that they have shown they can be, you can’t get blown out by 40 on your own court. I don’t care what the final score was, they were down 40 almost in the first half. You cannot have games like that at all. I know the league is good and every team is tough outside of maybe 3 or 4, but the Magic are supposed to be like in their tier of ascending talent. They cannot have performances like that, against a team like that.”
Listen to JMV’s full conversation with Tony East and more down below, and tune into The Ride With JMV weekdays from 3-6pm on 93.5/1075. The Fan!
