Rick Carlisle reveals Indiana’s ‘killer’ in loss to Spurs
How good was the 2024-25 season for Indiana Pacerstheirs The 2025-26 season was just as brutalmaybe even more. Their malaise this season can no longer be attributed solely to the absence of Tyrese Haliburton, as one would think that a team with Pascal Siakam and Andrew Nembhardt at the helm wouldn’t be bad enough to lose 11 games in a row.
But that’s what really happened for the Pacers as they suffered their 11th straight loss on Friday in a 123-113 loss to the San Antonio Spurs without Victor Wembanyama.
After the game, the head coach of the Pacers Rick Carlisle be honest about what killed his teamwhich was obvious given how well Indiana played otherwise.
“Tough game. The second quarter was killer. We’ve got to look for more consistency throughout the game. We’ve played good teams practically every night. In our situation, we’re still missing a few guys. The execution has to be better,” Carlisle said, per Tyler Smith of IndiSportsLegends.com.
The Pacers organization knows the 2025-26 campaign was already lost to begin with amid the team’s injury woes. But they must be disappointed to have fallen this low just months after reaching the NBA Finals.
The Pacers season from hell continues
The Pacers weren’t expected to compete for a title after losing some of their key players last offseason, either to free agency or injury. However, being the worst team in the NBA at 6-29 was not what they expected, and even Siakam has worried in recent weeks that this stench of losing could stick with them for a while if they don’t take immediate action.
At the very least, The Pacers have their 2026 first-round pick thanks to the shrewd deal they made with the New Orleans Pelicans to reacquire their first rounder.
2026-01-03 07:09:00
