Rick Carlisle won from the historic milestone after the loss of the Kings
To say that the 2025-26 season could not pass away from the plan for the Indiana Pacers would be a huge understatement. The Pacers expected to be at least semi-competitive this season despite Tyrese Halliburton’s Achilles injury that will keep him out for the entirety of the ’25-’26 campaign, but they entered Monday night’s matchup against the Sacramento Kings with a 5-18 record – causing major headaches for the head coach Rick Carlisle in the process.
But Carlisle and the Pacers are nothing if not resilient, and they beat the Kings 116-105 on Monday – fending off a late surge by the opposition. And in doing so, Carlisle recorded his 999th victory his head coaching career, as noted by Sports Illustrated’s Tony East.
Carlisle is now one step away from becoming just the 11th head coach to record at least 1,000 career wins, and will get a chance to join that exclusive club when the Pacers take the court again on Friday against the Philadelphia 76ers.
At this point, Gregg Popovich is leader of all time for major coaching wins with 1,390, which represents about eight more 50-win seasons for Carlisle.
Pacers have been taking it over lately
After a poor start to the 2025-26 campaign, the Pacers are at least playing significantly better basketball. While wins against the Chicago Bulls and Kings aren’t exactly huge accomplishments, Indiana is starting some of their key guys. Andrew Nembhard in particular was brilliant on Monday, hitting some clutch shots en route to a 28-point, four-rebound, 12-assist performance against the Kings.
While a playoff push may be too far for the Pacers to reach, continuing to build winning habits in preparation for the 2026-27 season. should remain a priority for Carlyle and company.
2025-12-09 05:26:00
