The Pacers head into Dallas with a little extra edge and a real chance to answer for what happened the last time these teams met.
That earlier meeting in Indiana went sideways fast. In the home opener - and Tyrese Haliburton’s official return to playing in front of Pacers fans since the NBA Finals - the Mavericks controlled the game from the opening tip and built a lead as large as 37 in the first half.
It was a rough night for the blue and gold, and the temperature rose late in the half when Aaron Nesmith hustled back on defense after another Indiana turnover and hit Cooper Flagg with a hard foul to stop an easy basket. The call was upgraded to a Flagrant 1, Flagg left the game and did not return, and the sequence sparked a confrontation involving Nesmith and Naji Marshall.
Flagg was not seriously injured and later returned after missing an additional game, but the moment left a mark. There was no love lost in that one, and Monday night has the feel of another physical game.
The scheduling break could matter, too. Dallas played Brooklyn on Sunday, so the Mavericks come in on shorter rest than Indiana, which traveled from Mexico City to Dallas after finishing its game Saturday. That kind of edge can show up late, especially if the Pacers can push the pace and make the game uncomfortable.
Injury-wise, the Pacers had not submitted their report for this matchup, though against Denver they listed only Tyrese Haliburton, Ben Sheppard and Johnny Furphy. Dallas had Derrick Lively II, Sergio de Larrea and Tarik Biberovic out against Brooklyn.
Kyrie Irving also sat out the second game of Dallas’ only back-to-back this season. He rested against the Kings at home last Monday, and the Mavericks lost that game, handing Sacramento its only win of the season.
If Irving sits again, that would be a major blow for Dallas, especially with de Larrea already out.
The Pacers have had some success in Dallas since trading for Haliburton, winning three of their last four games there. With Haliburton playing, they’ve won every game in the Lone Star State. He remains out for this one, though last season’s loss without him still came down to the wire when Nesmith missed a game-winning three and the Pacers dropped their fourth straight.
Even with both rosters changed from those previous trips, Dallas has been a place where Indiana’s offense has found life. In the Pacers’ last three wins there, they scored 124, 134 and 137 points.
Obi Toppin and T.J. McConnell have been productive off the bench in that building, while Pascal Siakam and Andrew Nembhard have shot it well enough to let others carry the scoring load.
That may be the formula again, especially with Siakam struggling from three and Nembhard coming off his worst shooting game of the season. A cleaner shooting night could swing things quickly.
Nesmith is another name to watch. He’ll likely get plenty of attention from Mavericks fans after the hard foul on Flagg in the home opener, and Dallas has already seen him struggle in that arena.
Last season, he went 2-for-16 from the field and 1-for-9 from three there. Indiana needed more from him then, and it needs more now.
He’s been stuck in a similar shooting funk early this season, with his numbers from deep and from the field lagging while his impact in other areas has been limited.
As the Pacers work their way back toward full strength, a breakout from Nesmith would go a long way.
In Other News...
Pacers Injury Crunch Could Force A Rotation Move Soon
Indianas injury pileup has started to reshape the conversation around the roster, and it has pushed outside voices to suggest the Pacers may need to act sooner rather than later. NBA analyst Dan Favale recently floated Ochai Agbaji as a possible addition, pointing to the teams need for another body as it waits on Tyrese Haliburton and Ivica Zubac, both of whom are dealing with uncertain return timelines.
Agbaji would not be arriving as a mystery. He has already bounced around this season after being waived twice, and his recent stops with the Raptors and Nets at least give him some familiarity with the grind of filling in on the fly. For Indiana, the question is less about pedigree than timing, because the current stretch could force a rotation move if the injuries linger and the depth chart keeps thinning. [Read more 🡒]
Pacers Face A Brutal Test As Pressure Starts Mounting
The Pacers are heading into a stretch that already feels like a measuring stick for where this season is going. With the Mavericks and Wizards next on the schedule, Indiana is staring at a pair of games that could either steady a shaky start or deepen the hole it has dug with a 3-7 record.
Dallas brings a difficult challenge, with Kyrie Irving back and scoring well after his injury return, while Cooper Flagg has given the Mavericks a real boost in transition. For Indiana, the urgency is obvious: drop these games, and an already rough opening to the year starts looking a lot harder to recover from. [Read more 🡒]
Pacers Fans Can Take One Small Comfort From This Brutal Start
The Pacers rough opening has been made even harder to absorb by the injury pileup around the roster, leaving Indiana at 3-7 and searching for any sign that the season can steady itself. In that kind of stretch, it is natural to look for a little perspective, and one place it comes from is the departure of Myles Turner, whose exit to Milwaukee was supposed to reshape the conversation around both teams.
Instead, the move has not gone the way the Bucks hoped, and Turners deal has quickly become a cautionary tale around the league. For Pacers fans, the small comfort is obvious: while Indiana has its own problems to solve, the team is not the one carrying one of the NBAs most damaging contracts, and the long view on Turners departure looks a lot different now than it did when he left. [Read more 🡒]