The Indiana Pacers will hope things take a turn for the better Wednesday when they face the Boston Celtics in the third stop of a five-game road trip.
Indiana, which ranks last among NBA teams in field-goal percentage (44.3%), lost to Detroit and Philadelphia in the first two games of the trip. The Pacers had their worst offensive output of the season in Saturday’s 121-78 loss to the Pistons, and then turned the ball over 24 times in Monday’s 113-104 setback against the 76ers.
“(With) a minus-14 steal differential, it’s impossible to win an NBA game,” Indiana coach Rick Carlisle said following Monday’s loss. “Got to do a better job taking care of the ball. They had 18 steals, we had four. We’ve got to take care of it better.”
The Pacers have been getting most of their offense from Andrew Nembhard and Pascal Siakam. Nembhard tossed in a team-high 25 points against Philadelphia, and Siakam finished with 24.
Nembhard has 12 games with at least 20 points this season and has six games with 25 or more. Siakam has surpassed 20 points in four straight games and 11 of his last 12 contests.
Meanwhile, Indiana’s Aaron Nesmith is 2-for-22 from 3-point territory in his last three games.
“This team’s battled all year with a big deficit of talent with a lot of guys hurt and stuff like that, but there have been no excuses,” Carlisle said. “The last couple of years, this team has committed to a standard for hard play and commitment to team and we haven’t wavered from that.”
Boston went 2-2 in a four-game road trip that ended with Monday’s 104-103 loss to Detroit. Jaylen Brown had a game-high 32 points and 11 rebounds in the loss, but he missed what would have been a game-winning jump shot as time expired.
“You gotta give credit to them,” Brown said. “They’re extremely physical. You feel it on every possession the whole game. I feel like we matched the level of intensity. We matched the level of physicality. But we just came up short.”
Brown, who is averaging a career-high 29.8 points per game this season, was named a starter in the NBA All-Star Game for the first time Monday after four previous selections.
“I’m a very confident guy,” said Brown, in his 10th NBA season. “So I don’t allow people to tell me what my validation is. I’ve always felt like I was better than a lot of these guys, but it doesn’t come down to what I think and feel. It comes down to media, fan vote, all that type of stuff. So, it could go any direction.
“I’m just grateful because I know it means a lot to my support group,” he continued. “They knew the type of talent I was from Day 1 and it means a lot to them to see me in these spaces, so shoutout to them.”
Wednesday’s game will be the fourth meeting between Boston and Indiana this season, and the Celtics will be seeking their third victory. Boston prevailed 103-95 at home on Dec. 22 and won 140-122 at Indiana on Dec. 26. The Pacers won 98-96 on Jan. 12 in Indianapolis.
