The doldrums of an NBA Basketball season usually hit just about everyone.
Unless you’re the 2015-16 Golden State Warriors or 90’s Chicago Bulls, the rough patches are going to hit. But boy, losing four in a row in a shortened season with almost every team bringing it on a nightly basis is tough.
The Indiana Pacers saw their season high losing skid stretch to four games in The Big Apple on Wednesday night. At the hands of the Kevin Durant-less Brooklyn Nets, the Blue and Gold were unable to ever grab a grasp of the game and fell 104-94.
“Offensively the movement came to a standstill and there was too much looking around instead of being the aggressor,” Head Coach Nate Bjorkgren said. “I don’t think we were moving the ball with a purpose either.”
It was all Nets as they took a 32-point halftime lead into the locker room.
Brooklyn got humiliated in Detroit last night too as they lost 122-111. Even without Durant, a team with Kyrie Irving and James Harden together should not be losing like that.
Wednesday against the Pacers was wildly different. Irving dropped 35 points and Indiana sent him to the free throw line 17 times; He made them all too.
One part of the stat sheet that can be a sure sign that the Pacers are having an off night is Domantas Sabonis’ totals. The Indiana big man began the season with 16 straight double-double performances, the most by anyone in team history.
In four of the five games where he has not had at least 10 points and 10 boards, Indiana lost.
Sabonis just missed one at 18 points and nine rebounds. But that now gives him three contests in a row without surpassing 10 rebounds, which is uncharacteristic of the 2020 All-Star.
The unordinary night for the Pacers was felt at numerous spots too. Doug McDermott finished 0/2 from beyond the arc versus Brooklyn. The former Creighton Bluejay said Brooklyn put a stranglehold on this one early and didn’t let go.
“Our energy just wasn’t great to start that game,” McDermott said. “We need to start games in attack mode regardless of if they are switching. And we have to do a better job on both ends of the floor.”
To note, this was the first game for Indiana without Assistant Coach Bill Bayno on the staff. Bayno resigned from the club this week, citing mental health as the key factor.
Bjorkgren’s club won’t have to wait long for their next opportunity to break the skid. They’ll hop on the plane and head to Detroit for a clash with the Pistons Thursday at 8 PM.
