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    • “Ugly” start leads to a tough loss to the Grizzlies
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    “Ugly” start leads to a tough loss to the Grizzlies

    Eira Gwyneth Posted on

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    INDIANAPOLIS – The Pacers played the Grizzlies on Monday in their first preseason home game of the 2024-25 season without their two All-Stars and four of their top players, so that shouldn’t have been much of a surprise. They suffered a 120-116 loss and were only 1:2 in the previous season.

    Still, it bothered Rick Carlisle that it wasn’t that close, that the Pacers, with their reshuffled starting lineup, fell behind early and never fully recovered. For the Pacers, some negative trends continued and a few more emerged. These issues may not be actionable in the future, but they were enough to make Carlisle want to get to work fixing the problem immediately.

    “We still have a lot of work to do,” Carlisle said. “Tomorrow is a scheduled day of rest, as much as it hurts me to say it afterwards.”

    With that in mind, here are five observations about the Pacers’ loss. It’s about what went wrong for them, what went right for Memphis and what else was relevant for the Pacers as they head into their final preseason game at home against Charlotte on Thursday.

    The first session on Monday got off to a chaotic start

    Carlisle released All-Star point guard Tyrese Haliburton, All-Star forward Pascal Siakam and veteran backup point guard TJ McConnell for recreational purposes only. Small forward Aaron Nesmith, arguably the Pacers’ best defender and one of their most productive players, was also sidelined after dealing with ankle soreness.

    Guard Andrew Nembhard and center Myles Turner remained on the first unit, but it allowed for temporary promotions of guard Bennedict Mathurin and forwards Jarace Walker and Obi Toppin. Mathurin and Toppin were already in the starting lineup and Walker is just over a year removed from the No. 8 pick in the draft. All three had something to prove, but Mathurin and Walker especially did after none of them played much in last year’s playoffs with Mathurin sidelined with a torn labrum, so they had every reason to make the most of their starting opportunity.

    Instead, the Pacers fell behind 11-0 early and were down 18-9 before they made their first substitutions. They trailed 31-17 at the end of the first quarter and the starters were -14 at halftime.

    “The first quarter was very bad,” Carlisle said. “The guys who started the game came into the game pretty relaxed. This is a strong team that gives you physical hits both offensively and defensively. That’s just how they play. They play a clean game, but it’s a physical game. We got hit in the face in the first quarter.”

    Walker acknowledged the Pacers didn’t have the energy, but noted it looked like they got it back. They outscored the Grizzlies 32-29 in the second quarter and 99-89 overall in the final three quarters. However, they made major strides as both teams went deep on the bench and used players who are unlikely to fill rotational roles early in the season. All five of the Pacers’ Monday starters posted plus-minus ratings of -7 or worse. Nembhard was -18, Mathurin was -16 and Turner and Toppin were both -14.

    “I feel like it was just our energy,” Walker said. “Usually that’s the only thing we start the game with. We’re going to miss shots, we’re going to make mistakes here and there on defense, but if you don’t have the energy, if you don’t have that. “Even though we usually try hard day in and day out, it’s going to be difficult to compete against quality teams.”

    The Pacers didn’t play with much presence on defense or cohesion on offense in the first round. The Grizzlies made 13 of 27 shots, including 5 of 12 from 3-point range, and outscored the Pacers 16-4 in the paint. The Pacers, meanwhile, made just 6 of 19 shots, including 3 of 11 threes, while turning the ball over four times, yielding 0.72 points per possession to the Grizzlies’ 1.27. The Grizzlies had 17 rebounds to the Pacers’ 10 in the period, five offensive rebounds to the Pacers’ one and seven second-chance points to the Pacers’ zero.

    “You don’t have to get used to each other to go out there with the right attitude, the right attitude, the right attitude and the right posture,” Carlisle said. “We didn’t do that. I can’t read minds, but it seemed like the expectation was, ‘Hey, I’m going to go out there, hit my shots and get in the game that way.’ It was ugly. That was it.” Ugly. Every one of their boys passed us. They hit us physically. Whatever happened.

    Carlisle particularly noted Mathurin and Walker’s problems. Mathurin scored just two points on 0 of 4 shooting in the first half and struggled to contain Desmond Bane on defense. He finished with 12 points on 4 of 12 shooting, but also had three turnovers and Bane scored 23 points. Walker finished the game with 15 points, six rebounds and four assists, but 12 of his points came in the fourth quarter when he played primarily with and against players at the end of the bench.

    “Ben and Jarace need to learn from the entire game, especially the first quarter,” Carlisle said. “They’re both smart guys, they work hard and they get better because of it.”

    Zach Edey will be a problem

    Carlisle noted before the game that he expected former Purdue star and 7-foot-4, 300-pound giant Zach Edey to be a tough cover for the Pacers and that they spent special time working on that work on how they could cover him. There used to be several players of Edey’s size in the league, but now that so many offenses rely on speed and distance, the traditional back-to-the-basket center is largely a thing of the past.

    But Edey continued to show signs that his play would reach that level, and the Pacers struggled to stop it. Edey scored 23 points on 10 of 15 shooting, with all shots coming in the paint, and also grabbed nine rebounds in 18 minutes, 43 seconds of work. The Grizzlies got him in front for some of those attacks with easy dump-offs, but his post moves were difficult to contain, even as Pacers centers Myles Turner, Isaiah Jackson and James Wiseman pushed him away from the rim and let him shoot over them , he was sinking 8-10 foot hook shots to get buckets.

    The two-time All-American and consensus national player of the year, who led Purdue to its first Final Four since 1980, was expected to be ranked No. 9 because teams weren’t sure how well he would defend on the perimeter. It was an open game in the NBA, but Carlisle believed Edey should have been taken sooner.

    “History will probably show that he picked low in the draft,” Carlisle said. “He will have an impact. He was drafted by an organization that believes in greatness and they believe in what he has accomplished. Two-time National Player of the Year is a big deal. It’s rare that that can even happen in today’s world of college basketball.” “I have a lot of respect for what he accomplished at Purdue and a lot of respect for what he did tonight because he’s a He put will and a physicality into the game that we just didn’t achieve.”

    Overall, the defense is still lacking

    Nesmith is arguably the Pacers’ best all-around defender, McConnell is one of the most celebrated defensive players of the last decade in the NBA, and Siakam’s length is a factor in the Pacers’ defense, so the Pacers had to expect to fall behind on defense even though they were there didn’t play particularly well from the start.

    Still, the Pacers have not given up fewer than 117 points in a preseason game. They allow opponents to shoot 50% from the floor and give up 57.3 points per game in the game. Carlisle has said the ball pressure isn’t where he wants it to be, nor is the cohesion in the pick-and-roll to keep the ball away from the rim.

    “Our zone was very effective in this game,” Carlisle said, “but our man-to-man system was not.”

    Ben Sheppard still has a rotation case

    It was notable that Walker was selected for one of the available starting spots on Monday and that he was on the second unit against the Cavaliers on Thursday, but his draft classmate Ben Sheppard was not. Walker appears to have the higher ceiling due to his size. He’s also younger and was a lottery pick, while Sheppard was selected No. 26 in the 2023 draft.

    But Ben Sheppard won a spot in the rotation last year because he was energetic, reliable and efficient, and he still is. And when the first session struggled on Monday, Sheppard looked for a spark and provided one.

    Sheppard finished the game with 12 points on 4 of 8 shooting, knocked down 2 of 5 three-pointers and dished out five assists with zero turnovers. He had to do a lot of work handling the ball with two point guards and, as usual, provided intense defense. He finished with a +13, the best plus-minus of any player on the roster.

    Walker could end up beating Sheppard for the final spot on the second unit, but Sheppard is too trustworthy when it comes to the fundamentals to be relegated to the end of the bench.

    Cole Swider appears to have the advantage in last place

    On Monday, minutes were available for players to make a case for inclusion in the squad, and it was notable that of the two forwards likely fighting for the last available spot in the squad, Cole Swider was the one who got real work .

    The former Syracuse star played 22 minutes and 23 seconds while his main rival, Kendall Brown, played less than four minutes. Swider’s most important skill, his shooting, is on display, as are several others that weren’t necessarily at the top of his list.

    Swider scored 10 points on 3 of 5 shooting, including 2 of 4 3-pointers. He also grabbed five rebounds, three assists and zero turnovers, earning a +12 in his minutes. Sheppard noted how impressively Swider noted that Swider “kicks the (expletive) out of the ball.” Brown’s only shot was a dunk and he scored +3 in his limited minutes, but Swider’s outside shooting gives him an advantage because it gives them something they don’t have elsewhere at the end of the bench.

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    Eira Gwyneth
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