Three Things NBA Preview: Indiana Pacers
As I detailed a couple weeks ago, I’m once again re-appropriating the Three Things I Noticed on League Pass format to preview the upcoming season. Instead of three things I noticed, it’ll be something more along the lines of three things I’m looking forward to, interested in, or want to see. Some of them might be narrative-based, some might be stats, and some might include video. But they'll all be focused on the 2025-26 campaign.
The schedule for those posts will be as follows:
- Sept. 1-5: Atlantic Division (BOS, BKN, NYK, PHI, TOR)
- Sept. 8-12: Central Division (CHI, CLE, DET, IND, MIL)
- Sept. 15-19: Southeast Division (ATL, CHA, MIA, ORL, WAS)
- Sept. 22-26: Pacific Division (GSW, LAC, LAL, PHX, SAC)
- Sept. 29-Oct. 3: Northwest Division (DEN, MIN, OKC, POR, UTA)
- Oct. 6-10: Southwest Division (DAL, HOU, MEM, NOP, SAS)
So without further ado, let's get to the Indiana Pacers, who lost in Game 7 of the NBA Finals after first losing Tyrese Haliburton in devastating fashion to a torn Achilles.
A whole new world
There may be no player in the NBA more central to his team's style of play than Tyrese Haliburton. It's him and Nikola Jokic, and that's probably it. The team itself is seemingly an extension of his skill set. And now that team will have to play on without him for at least this upcoming season. Fittingly, we have zero idea what that's going to look like.
Will the Pacers still be able to play their games at not just a fast pace, but a breakneck one? Will they even want to? How can they do so consistently without the guy spraying hit-ahead passes and getting out into the open floor and using his vision and creativity to turn corner-sprinters and rim-runners into always-live threats?
And what about in the halfcourt? Granted, the Pacers haven't been one of those teams that just sits their point guard at the top of the floor and runs 100 pick and rolls a game, but Haliburton ball screens and dribble hand-offs were still the engine of their offense. And how do they replicate the same kind of ball and player movement they've had without the guy whose passing opened up all of the options created by that movement?
During the three full seasons Haliburton played in Indiana, the Pacers ranked third, third, and second in passes per 100 possessions. They ranked second, second, and fourth in the average speed of their offensive players, according to GeniusIQ, and first, first, and fourth in the share of time that their players were moving fast.
That's not all Haliburton, obviously, but he's the guy who made it all work as well as it did. How do you replicate that with him off the court for not just 12-16 minutes per game, but over the course of an entire season? Is it even possible?
I'm not sure it is, or that the Pacers should even try to find out. They have to play with the roster they have, and that might mean an entirely different style of play for this season.
And of course, Haliburton isn't the only key figure who won't be back...
