The Indiana Pacers have lost five of six games and went from looking like the next big thing to the land of the lost.
They waltz into a get-right game Sunday with Washington hoping to find the directions for a turnaround before they fall further behind the stumblebums masquerading as contenders in front of them in the Eastern Conference standings.
There’s no panic—yet—for these Pacers, but plenty of confusion about how they went from the precipice of the NBA Finals to deep concern permeating from point guard Tyrese Haliburton throughout the roster.
Haliburton was the player the Pacers turned to for answers and emphatic statements when Indiana needed a play, a spark, a stop, a weirdly machine-like catapult of a 3-point shot in a big moment.
He can’t answer that call this season because he appears barely capable of answering the phone when Rick Carlisle calls his number.
Haliburton, just 24 and with more than enough time to prove he’s not Ben Simmons, has gone deeper than a slump. The pace-setter for the Pacers continues to make plays. He’s delivered in other ways, like the five-steal, two-block, one-turnover in 39 minutes against show at Toronto last Monday. But he also shot 27.8 percent from the floor—22.2 percent from 30-point range—and then shot 14.3 percent at Houston in back-to-back losses.
Indiana can still be exciting and plays with the energy of a team that won’t be trapped in this cage all season.
Indiana is 12th in the East, wearing a record that matches rebuild-on-the-fly Brooklyn and Charlotte.
But to get out of the merge lane, they’ll need Haliburton to take the wheel with both hands.
Asked after a third straight loss if he has a sense for how he’s in a slump, Haliburton calmly answered, “Nah, nah, I don’t.”
Indiana’s upcoming schedule might be the tonic it needs, with three games before Thanksgiving at home starting Sunday with the Washington Wizards (2-12), a back-to-back Monday with the Pelicans (4-13) in town and a Thanksgiving Eve matchup in Indy against the Blazers (7-10).
