A serious loss for the Pacers against the Wizards

77 seconds into the game and it’s already a timeout. Rick Carlisle, with a stern expression on his face, had just called his players back to the bench, moments after half-time. this match against the Wizards. With Marvin Bagley III and CJ McCollum, the visitors scored on their first two possessions.

Where Andrew Nembhard and his gang were too slow on their end to start the meeting. This timeout will have the merit of shaking the home team for a while. Only the offensive struggles – 37% shooting including 26% on 3-pointers – were such that the Pacers ended up losing by 19 points.

On their floor, therefore, facing the worst team in the league, deprived of two of its best elements, Frenchmen Alex Sarr and Bilal Coulibaly. Not surprisingly, Rick Carlyle describes at the press conference this meeting as ” ugly game on our side. Washington had a great game. They really imposed the aggression from the beginning and maintained it until the end. We must honor them. »

However, what about his team? ” The way we played today is not acceptable. Not enough energy. Not the right way of thinking. Obviously, not enough aggressiveness, physical effort. We could really list everything », invented the coach, who missed a new opportunity to integrate club for coaches with 1,000 career wins.

A good dynamic has been stopped

« We started to get a little apathetic », confirms Isaiah Jackson, the only player in his team with a double-double (11 points and 12 rebounds) from the bench, who talks about a difficult evening collectively. Pacers who, however, have been in a better moment lately, with four wins in the previous seven outings.

Among them was a big victory (119-86) 15 days earlier against the same opponent, in the same room. ” We didn’t make easy shots. Most of our shots were contested, difficult or out of rhythm. (…) We’ve got guys who make tough shots all the time, but if we’re not getting easy shots, we’re not making it easy for them. “, remarks Jay Huff about this last failed game.

Result: Pascal Siakam was pleased with 11 points on 4/12 shooting and Andrew Nembhardt with 7 points on 3/14 to name a few. ” The game is difficult, especially in the situation we are in right now. Not at full power. We have new players. All those things that could be called excuses. But if everyone is not 100%, things get complicated “, says Rick Carlisle.