Ivica Zubac’s night against the Dallas Mavericks turned into a rough snapshot of where things stand for the Indiana Pacers’ big swing at center.
Indiana lost by three after getting outscored by 13 in the second half, and the box score told a blunt story. The Pacers actually made more threes and shot a better percentage from the field, but they were crushed on the boards. Dallas finished with a 16-rebound edge and grabbed 10 offensive rebounds, while Zubac managed only three rebounds himself.
That was enough for head coach Rick Carlisle to pull the plug on his starting center late. Carlisle went to small ball for the final 10 or so minutes, a move that said plenty about how the game was going and how little resistance Indiana was getting inside.
It is a bad look for a player Indiana paid heavily to acquire. The Pacers sent Bennedict Mathurin, Isaiah Jackson, two first-round picks, including the fifth overall selection last year, and a second-rounder to land the Croatian center, and the early returns have not matched the cost. That does not close the book on Zubac in Indiana, but a benching like this is hardly the kind of sign the team wanted to see.
The rebounding problem is the biggest alarm bell. Yes, rebounding is a team responsibility, but a starting center is supposed to steady that area, not watch it unravel. Indiana’s inability to control the glass has become too much to ignore, especially when Zubac was expected to help solve it.
The Pacers have lived through roster flaws before, and the source of those issues used to be easier to explain. Myles Turner brought his own rebounding limitations, but Indiana covered for that by leaning on Tyrese Haliburton and Pascal Siakam and pushing pace after defensive rebounds. That formula gave the team a way to hide one weakness by turning every possession into a race.
This version is tougher to sort out. Zubac was supposed to be the answer on his own, or close to it, and that is what makes the current results sting. His 7.7 rebounds per game are the lowest they have been since he became a starter in Los Angeles, though there is still room for that number to climb back up.
Indiana may also need to help him more than it has. One possibility is asking more from Siakam again and putting a few more training wheels on the scheme, even if that nudges the team away from its preferred identity a bit. The Pacers are giving up too many offensive rebounds and not creating enough of their own to keep pretending the issue will just disappear.
Zubac did score 16 points against the Mavericks and did it efficiently, but that production will not carry nearly enough weight if the defense and rebounding stay at this level. For Indiana, the price tag makes that the real problem.
In Other News...
Pacers Injury Crunch Could Force A Rotation Move Soon
The Pacers injury situation has already reached the point where outside roster ideas are starting to sound practical, not speculative. NBA analyst Dan Favale floated the notion that Indiana should take a look at Ochai Agbaji, a player who has already been waived twice this season and has experience with both the Raptors and Nets, as the team tries to keep its rotation afloat while Tyrese Haliburton and Ivica Zubac remain sidelined with uncertain return timelines.
For Indiana, the appeal is less about splash and more about survivability. With two key contributors stuck in limbo, the Pacers may need to make a move soon just to stabilize the back end of the roster and preserve some continuity in the minutes that are left. Agbaji is not a headline-grabbing fix, but in a season where availability has become the issue, even a modest addition could matter if the injuries continue to linger. [Read more 🡒]
Pacers Get A Chance To Answer Dallas After That Ugly Opener
The Pacers get a quick shot at revenge against Dallas after a last meeting that left little doubt about which team controlled the night. Indiana is coming into the rematch with the memory of that lopsided opener still fresh, and the added edge from the flagrant foul incident involving Aaron Nesmith and Cooper Flagg only gives the matchup a little more bite as the teams line up again.
Both sides are dealing with a mix of injuries and rest situations, which adds another layer to a game that already has some built-in tension. For Indiana, the focus is less on what happened before and more on whether it can clean up the mistakes from that ugly first showing and give itself a better answer this time around. [Read more 🡒]
Pacers Face A Brutal Test As Pressure Starts Mounting
The next stretch does not offer much room for the Pacers to breathe, with Dallas and Washington waiting in back-to-back games that could shape the early tone of their season. Indiana has stumbled to a 3-7 start, and the margin for error is already thinning as the schedule brings a Mavericks team that has found its footing behind Kyrie Irving and Cooper Flagg.
Dallas has been getting plenty from Flagg in transition and steady scoring from Irving since his return from injury, which makes this a tricky matchup for a Pacers group trying to stop the slide. If Indiana cannot take advantage of these chances, the pressure around this team will only keep building, and the upcoming road could get a lot steeper in a hurry. [Read more 🡒]