The Pacers are still looking for their first win of the pre-season after losing to the upstart Rockets last night. The game felt a bit like a carryover from the first game in Memphis, as the boys in blue-n'-gold struggled with fouling, rebounding, shooting, and defending the paint. Despite that, they posted plenty of individual highlights and I see no reason to feel any less optimistic about the team's potential than I did a week ago.

On top of all the usual caveats about pre-season, Indiana was missing three of its most stabilizing presences in Tyrese Haliburton, Myles Turner, and Andrew Nembhard. Though the team was buoyed by the return of Daniel Theis, who made his season debut as a member of the starting lineup, it's hard to make too many judgments until we see Haliburton take the court. If Carlisle's post-game interview is any indication, he's ready for his star man to start suiting up.

I'm not sure where Houston will end up in the win column this year but it seems clear that the additions of Ime Udoka and Fred Van Vleet (and possibly the subtraction of certain cancerous elements from the locker room) have the Rockets playing like a real NBA team this year. They're still likely a lottery team but I don't expect them to be a doormat.

Things I Liked

Buddy Hield's Passing

With two of the team's three point guards sidelined, Buddy Hield has assumed primary playmaking duties off the bench. And you know what? He's not half bad at it.

All you have to do is look at the box score and see his nine assists to two turnovers to know he played well. But during a stretch in the third quarter, his orchestration of the offense really stood out to me. He was making all of the right reads and a few of his post-entry passes would make a number of former starting point guards for the Pacers jealous.

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The more I think about trading Buddy Hield the less I like it. When we first got him I thought he was a one-dimensional shooter but that couldn't be further from the truth. He's incredibly well rounded, he competes his *** off , and his defense is closer to league average than his reputation suggests.

Come playoff time, you can't overstate the importance of non-primary options who are comfortable making plays with the ball in their hands (look no further than Bruce Brown). When Buddy Hield finally makes it to the postseason his shooting and ability to be a secondary playmaker are going to be invaluable. I hope the team can figure out a deal to keep him here for a few more years but if they can't, I hope we get a good asset back in return – because make no mistake, Buddy Hield is a weapon.

Aaron Nesmith's Growth

Nesmith had a great outing last night. He led the game in scoring with 18 points on nearly 78% shooting despite only going 1-for-3 from deep. Unlike last year where he looked like a fish out of water trying to create off the dribble, he did just about all of his damage against the Rockets by putting the ball on the floor. He's stated that getting better off the bounce was the main focus of his summer workout plan and last night we saw the fruits of his labor.

Speaking of fruits of labor, he's clearly been putting just as much time in the weight room as he has on the court. Dude looks yoked. I've confused him for Jarace Walker a few times already this season. Hopefully the hard work continues to pay off and we can count on him for more consistent offense this season.

Jalen Smith's Bounce Back

Even though Jalen Smith played alright, if unspectacularly, in the first game against Memphis, he left the arena with a sour taste in his mouth. He had an opportunity to tie the game in the final seconds of overtime but missed his free throws.

As a result, he came into last night's game with the mindset that he was just going to go as hard as possible and trust that the rest would fall into place. He should do that every game because he played spectacularly. In just 12:26 minutes, he went 5-for-5 from the floor, 1-for-1 from three, scooped up six boards, and delivered one emphatic block against a soaring, dead set on posterizing, Amen Thompson.

When asked about Smith post-game, Carlisle said he's been impressed. He thinks Jalen is playing like a guy who "knows who he is, what his strengths and weaknesses are, and how he fits into the system." Jalen agreed with that assessment, saying that he's keeping things simple by focusing on his role, which is to get rebounds, play defense, block shots, and let the game come to him offensively.

I couldn't honestly tell you how the backup center position battle is going to play out, but more games like tonight will have Smith in pole position.

Ben Sheppard's Solid Play

The rookie continues to look like he belongs on an NBA court. He posted a solid stat line of 11 points, four rebounds, four assists, and a block in about 23 minutes of action. His outside shot was a weapon last night, connecting on 43% of his seven attempts.

The guard rotation is going to get very crowded with the return of Haliburton and Nembhard, so I don't expect to see much of Sheppard once the season starts. But if we experience an injury bug at any point in the season, I feel good about Sheppard's ability to pick up the slack.

Mathurin Getting Downhill

The sequence below immediately caught my eye last night. At first I replayed it because I thought the misdirection made it a cool play but watch what happens once Mathurin gets downhill with a head of steam. If you pause at the 5 second mark you'll see four Rockets defenders converging on him to stop the drive.

It's awesome that Mathurin has the floater as a counter so that he can pull up even when four guys are keying in on him, but it's really awesome that he commands that kind of respect on his drives. If a team is playing drop with its center like the Rockets were doing with Sengun, Mathurin is going to be able to feast. Even though he took the shot, the kick out to the corner is a simple pass for a wide open three. Passing may not be his strong suit, but he's going to have a lot of opportunities this year now that the scouting report is out on him.

Things I Didn't Like

Too Many Fouls

In Carlisle's own words, the thing that's "killing" the Pacers is fouling. They had 31 one the night, almost 10 more than the Rockets. It was a team-wide issue but nobody struggled as much as Isaiah Jackson. He committed five fouls in just under 14 minutes on the court.

If the Pacers are going to improve defensively they have to start doing the little things right.

Mental Lapses on Defense

Speaking of doing the little things right on defense, the Pacers continue to simply blow coverages. It's early in the season and they are implementing a new scheme while integrating new players, so I won't harp on it too much. But they need to clean up the mental lapses.

If they could just quit getting beat backdoor...

Or figure out how to defend the pick and roll, the team would probably meet its goal of giving up a few less points per game.

Walker's Reversion to Summer League Form

Walker had a rough game offensively – I'm not overly concerned about that. He's going to deal with off-nights all year.

What I didn't like is that when his shots weren't going in, he started to press. Much like Summer League, he tried to shoot his way out of his slump, stopping the ball and settling for long jumpers.

I'm happy he isn't shy about trying to score and I get why he'd want to put on show a with friends and family in the stands. But he hasn't earned the right to hijack an NBA offense and I want to see him try to find easier buckets when he's struggling.

Poor Shooting In General

The Pacers shot 40.8% from the floor last night and 23.8% from three. Bruce Brown has yet to make a triple this season and Buddy Hield is noticeably less effective as a shooter when he's tasked with running the offense.

I'm not really worried long term. Once guys get into shape and Tyrese comes back the numbers will improve... but last night it was ugly.

Things That Made Me Laugh

Dillon Brooks got ejected five minutes into the game. Personally, I didn't think it was the most egregious thing I'd ever seen but the guy is a repeat offender so probably the right call.

Things That Made Me Cry

I think I wrote about 3,000 words on why we should take Cam Whitmore this summer so it goes without saying that watching him play made me ache for the trade-up that never materialized.

But I also found myself aching just as much for Tari Eason, who we would have been able to draft if the Cleveland pick had conveyed in '22. I love his do-it-all game and think he'd fit in perfectly with our young core.

What's Next?

The Pacers are off today and back in the gym tomorrow.

This Saturday is FanJam, which should be a great show for those in attendance. As long as Myles Turner is on the team, rookies will be forced to embarrass themselves by wearing costumes and singing for the fans. On top of that, the team is treating the scrimmage as a fifth preseason game, so it should be a competitive showing.

I doubt it will be televised and I haven't heard anything about a livestream, so we may have rely on reporters in attendance for updates about the scrimmage.

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