INDIANAPOLIS — Aaron Nesmith is a man of impressive intelligence but limited interest in talking into microphones and recording devices, so the Pacers forward and former Vanderbilt star’s apparent goal with every recorded media interaction is to provide genuine, complete answers in as few words and as little time as possible.
So when he was asked by sideline reporter Pat Boylen in the jumbotron interview after the Pacers’ 129-124 win over the Hawks on Saturday what’s led to their recent string of clutch wins, he wrapped up a potentially complex response in about seven seconds worth of speaking time.
“We’re just playing Pacers basketball again,” Nesmith said after scoring 23 points on 8 of 10 shooting. “It feels good. We got a rhythm. We’re gonna keep it going.”
There’s more to explain why in the midst of what could still be end up being the worst season in franchise history the Pacers (13-36) have won two straight and seven of 12 games since Dec. 8 when they snapped their franchise-record 13 game losing streak. However, it all fits into the basic concept that Nesmith explained, which that 49 games into this star-crossed season, the Pacers are finally playing like the team they hoped they’d be and adhering as closely as possible to the principles they held dear before Tyrese Haliburton tore his right Achilles tendon. That style made them one of the toughest teams in the NBA to prepare for from 2022-25, producing two deep playoff runs and the highest scoring offense in 40 years of NBA seasons in 2023-24.
The Pacers weren’t perfect on Saturday night against the Hawks — especially on the defensive end in the first half when they scored 80 points but also gave up 73 — but on offense they played the free-flowing randomized style of basketball that made them such a difficult cover from Haliburton’s acquisition in February of 2022 until his Earth-shifting injury in June in Game 7 of the NBA Finals. And in the second half on defense they responded and did what they had to do when they had to do it to hold on even as the Hawks clamped down as well. Doing that in a regular season game in January against a team that appears destined for the play-in round is a lot different than doing it in the Eastern Conference Finals, but in a season like the Pacers have had, even brief reminders of who they were and could be again when they get Haliburton back next season are important.
“It just means we’re playing fast, moving the ball,” All-Star forward Pascal Siakam said. “And also sitting down and playing defense. Obviously, the first half is not us but you see the second half, it was a lot better. Getting stops, playing the way we want to play. Then, no matter what, even when we’re down, that’s what Pacer basketball is all about. Just continuing to fight, working as a team.”
The reasons it took so long for the Pacers to find this version of themselves have been extensively documented. The injury to Haliburton, their All-Star point guard and face of the franchise, was only the beginning of their early-season injury epidemic. They’ve spent most of the season so short-handed that they were granted repeated hardship exceptions that allowed them to sign players to 10-day contracts to go above their roster limit.
They haven’t had a hardship exception since late December, but it wasn’t until the return of guard Bennedict Mathurin from a thumb sprain on Monday that the Pacers’ injury report finally shrunk down to two players. Forward Obi Toppin has been out since the season’s third game with a stress fracture in his right foot and coach Rick Carlisle said Saturday it could still be a while before he returns. This is the closest the Pacers have been all season to having the roster they expected to have when training camp opened.
“Being more healthy helps,” guard Andrew Nembhard said. “Having more guys that have played that type of hoops helps.”
It’s also helped, however, that while bringing back experienced players, they’ve also tried something new.
For the past four games, the Pacers have used a smaller starting lineup without a true center but with five players listed between 6-4 to 6-8 in point guard Andrew Nembhard, wings Aaron Nesmith, Jarace Walker and Johnny Furphy. Siakam, typically a power forward, has been defending centers but Furphy has often operated as the 5 man on offense.
Carlisle said in each case he’s used the smaller lineup because it’s made sense for the matchups with opponents because they also had to play a little bit smaller and not because he’s committed to the idea conceptually going forward. However, it’s been helpful to have a lineup of players who run hard, space the floor and willingly move the ball.
In the past four games, that lineup has played 41 minutes together and has an offensive rating of 119.2 points per 100 possessions and a net rating of +8.0 in a season in which the Pacers rank 30th in offensive rating at 108.4. In the past four games, the Pacers’ team offensive rating is 114.5 which puts them in the middle of the pack at 13th in the league. For the season they rank 28th at 110.7 points per game but in the last four games they rank fourth with 118.8 per game. The Pacers have used 25 different starting lineups this season and this is the first one that has won three games together.
Saturday’s game was an example of what makes it work. All five starters are capable shooters and drivers, and the combination kept the Hawks spread out. The Pacers hit 11 first-half 3-pointers which opened up space to drive and cut. They finished with 15 3-pointers and 56 points in the paint on 28 of 45 shooting in the lane and had 29 assists on 48 buckets. They shot 53.9% from the floor and posted 1.17 points per possession.
“Being able to move the ball, everyone is a threat,” Siakam said. “It’s just unselfish basketball. It’s moving, cutting, which takes a lot. It’s not easy. Naturally as a player, you just want to stand around or whatever. But I think body movement, all the different things that we’re able to do, we gotta continue to get better at. We’re not even at the top of what we can do. We know what the offense can do when everyone is moving, everyone is doing things, and the small lineup helps with that.”
It’s working wonders so far for Siakam. He’s scored 20-plus points in nine straight games so he’s having a remarkable year regardless of lineup, but when he’s being guarded by centers he has an opportunity to blow past them to the rim. He was particularly effective in that regard on Saturday night as he scored 25 points on 11 of 15 shooting. He hit one 3-pointer and each of his other 10 field goals were in the paint. That included the 11-foot turnaround jumper with approximately 19 seconds to go that was effectively the decisive blow in the game, but it also included eight layups. Siakam rarely has it so easy.
“As much space I can get out there, the better,” Siakam said. “I know I’m going to have gravity and people are going to send bodies, so I just gotta make the right plays. It helps if we’re making shots and I think it opens up the floor.”
The success the Pacers are having with the smaller lineup also seems to be setting a tone for when the Pacers substitute, whether they’re just changing wings or bringing one of their three centers in the game. Center Jay Huff played just under six minutes combined against the Thunder last week and the Hawks on Monday, but he scored 10 points against the Bulls on Wednesday and 16 against the Hawks on Saturday, hitting three 3-pointers. The lineup that includes Siakam, Nembhard, Nesmith, Bennedict Mathurin and Huff has actually been the Pacers’ most effective in their last four games with a 120.6 offensive rating and a +35.7 net rating in 16 minutes of work together. That was the group that drove the Pacers comeback win against the Bulls on Wednesday.
“Being able to do anything like that makes it really hard to prepare for us,” Huff said. “I think that plays in to how we want to play, just want we want to be as a team. We want to be random. We want to make it really difficult for teams ot game plan against us. If you stop one thing, we have other options. They have to work a lot harder versus just having one thing that we do.”
On Saturday night, the Hawks didn’t have any answers for what the Pacers were doing in the first half, but the Pacers didn’t have any answers for what Atlanta was doing either. The Hawks scored 64 points in the paint. on Saturday including 44 in the first half as the game started to resemble a layup line. Carlisle laid down the gauntlet in the locker room at halftime, not showing any film and simply demanding that they do better just as he did during the 2023-24 season when the players seemed too willing too try to outscore opponents in the first half of the season and needed to shift focus to defense. They did then and did again on Saturday, holding the Hawks to 38.6% shooting in the second half after making 54.7% in the first half.
“I didn’t like anything about the first half,” Carlisle said. “It was just a shot trade. It was brother-in-law basketball, is what it was. That’s not sustainable. We found that out three years ago, two years ago, whatever it was. The second half was more like it. That’s how it’s gotta be.”
It’s anyone’s guess how long the Pacers will get to maintain this dynamic and it might change drastically in the course of the next week. They have a back-to-back on Monday and Tuesday and could rest some players in one of those games. The trade deadline follows on Thursday at 3 p.m. The Pacers are in the market for a starting center which would obviously change the lineup dynamic dramatically. There’s significant speculation that they could move Mathurin, who is set to be a restricted free agent at the end of this season, and certainly other moves are possible.
Even if they are relatively quiet at the deadline, there could come a time in the not too distant future where it becomes a franchise imperative that they start losing more games. At 13-36, the Pacers are 14th of the 15 teams in the Eastern Conference and they’re in the NBA’s bottom five. Finishing in the bottom three would get them the best possible odds of winning the NBA Draft lottery at 14%, but it’s helpful to have the worst record because even not winning the lottery means still having a top five pick. The Pacers are one of five teams in the NBA with 13 or fewer wins and one of eight with 18 or fewer, so all the misery they’ve suffered so far this season still hasn’t been close to enough for them to secure picking in the top five for the first time since 1988. At some point, decisions could be made for draft position purposes, especially once the Pacers are formally eliminated from playoff contention.
But for now, they still get to chase the feeling — however fleeting — of being the team they hoped they’d be.
“I’m happy for the guys,” Carlisle said. “They fought hard and they like the feeling of winning games.”
Dustin Dopirak covers the Pacers all season. Get more coverage on IndyStarTV and with the Pacers Insider newsletter.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: ‘Everybody is a threat’: Pacers’ small lineup is helping them win
Reporting by Dustin Dopirak, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
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