Let's take a moment to reminisce. It's the summer of 2022. The Pacers finished the previous season with the fifth worst record in the NBA. Nevertheless, there's a bit of optimism around the franchise due to recently acquired guard Tyrese Haliburton. After years of feigning competitiveness, the front office has fully embraced a rebuild and is attempting to surround their new face of the franchise with young, complementary players that he can grow with.

Enter DeAndre Ayton, the former first overall pick who, due to a personality clash with his coach Monty Williams, seemed to be available in restricted free agency. The Pacers front office felt that Ayton would be the perfect fit with Haliburton – much better than Myles Turner – and signed him to a max contract offer sheet. Meanwhile, Turner, the incumbent center, thought that after years of trade rumors and disrespect, his time in Indianapolis was finally coming to an end.

Fast forward to January 2024. The Pacers front office is again looking to surround Haliburton with a complementary player, only this time it's All-NBA forward Pascal Siakam. The move is no longer about a long term rebuild, it's about winning now. Siakam, an impending free agent, sees a future in Indianapolis in no small part because of the presence (and success) of Myles Turner on the roster. Meanwhile, DeAndre Ayton is starting for the lottery bound Blazers... when he can make it to the arena at least.

Time flies in the NBA. Things come full circle. Be thankful of the moves we did make and the ones we avoided. Most of all, put some damn respect on Myles Turner's name.

Last Night

The shorthanded Pacers beat the Kings on the back of an impressive team effort. The depth of the squad was on full display. When the Rick Carlisle talks about having 10 starting quality players, games like last night are what he is referring to.

It all started with TJ McConnell, who played remarkably well from the tip. No Kings defenders could stay in front of him and he made DeAaron Fox look like the second best point guard in the game.

Pacers fans will be thrilled with Walker's performance as well. He finally got real minutes and delivered his career high in points. He hit a few off the dribble pull-ups that reinforce the idea that his offensive future might be more of a scoring small-forward than a Draymond-like hub.

Benn Mathurin carried the team offensively. Somehow, despite all of his rim attacks, he only attempted one free throw on the night. That stat underscores just how good of a shot maker he was against the Kings and how his scoring arsenal is maturing in his second season.

Oh yeah and Ben Sheppard ran like crazy. I mean seriously, watch him on any given defensive possession. It's like a track and field competition. He comes from the TJ McConnell school of playing like his hair is on fire, which makes me incredibly bullish on his future.

Portland

Portland are bad. It's embarrassing that we've lost to this team already. For the season, they have the worst offense and the 25th ranked defense based on points per possession. That combination results in an average deficit of about 11 points per game.

Over the last two weeks, they've somehow been worse. Their offense remains in last place but their defense has dropped to 29th, ballooning that average deficit to about 26 points per game.

Still, the Pacers are on the 2nd night of a back to back, this is the 5th game of the road trip, and the injury report is about a mile long. I don't expect them to play a particularly clean game tonight and, well, it's the NBA. In the words of KG...

Anything is Possible!!!

Despite all those factors going against the Pacers, they have one thing that could provide a big emotional boost: Pascal Siakam appears set to make his debut in Blue & Gold. Who knows how that will affect team chemistry – I don't think he's even practiced with the team yet – but in a slop fest against one of the worst teams in the league, a player of Siakam's caliber should be able to simply make winning plays.

Injuries

How to Watch

Tipoff is at 10:00 PM ET.

TV: Bally Sports Indiana, NBA League Pass

Radio: 93.5/107.5 The Fan

See ya in the comments!

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