Pacers Struggle With Slow Starts in Loss to Lakers
LOS ANGELES — Resilience has been a key factor in the Indiana Pacers' turnaround this season, something head coach Rick Carlisle often emphasizes. Since their rough 10-15 start, they have lost back-to-back games only once, winning 19 of their last 26.
However, following a 124-117 loss to the Lakers on Saturday—despite Los Angeles being without LeBron James and Luka Doncic—Carlisle's patience wore thin.
"You cannot survive doing this and having these kinds of poor starts," Carlisle said. "We gotta look in the mirror. I've gotta look and consider everything. We gotta be better at the beginning of the game. We've gotta go harder and we've gotta fight harder."
Recurring Slow Starts Cost the Pacers
Indiana's sluggish openings have been a troubling theme during their four-game Western Conference road trip:
- Saturday vs. Lakers: Trailed 44-22 after the first quarter, down by as much as 25 in the second.
- Thursday vs. Clippers: Down 42-22 after one quarter.
- Tuesday vs. Portland: Fell behind 27-18 early, trailing by 11 in the first quarter.
- Monday vs. Utah: Started down 28-13 before closing the first quarter at 32-24.
Despite these struggles, the Pacers salvaged a 2-2 road trip, thanks to comeback wins over the Jazz and Clippers. They fought back to within four points of the Lakers in the third quarter and five in the fourth, but ultimately fell short.
With a 29-22 record, Indiana remains in fourth place in the Eastern Conference, 1.5 games ahead of the Milwaukee Bucks, who face the 76ers on Sunday.
A Concerning Trend for Indiana
The Pacers’ first-quarter woes on this road trip have been staggering. If their performances over those four opening quarters were combined into a full game, they would have been outscored 145-86.
Before the trip, Indiana actually boasted a +5.4 net rating in first quarters—their best of any period this season. However, after this rough stretch, that number has dropped to +0.3.
As the Pacers return home, fixing their sluggish starts will be a priority if they hope to maintain their standing in the Eastern Conference playoff race.