INDIANAPOLIS -- The Pacers may already have two bench pieces making noise for bigger responsibility.
After Friday night’s loss to Dallas, Rick Carlisle made the point plainly: "We need everybody to be playing like Jalen Slawson. Let's put it that way.
Him and Quenton (Jackson.) Those are two hard playing guys."
That kind of praise usually doesn’t land by accident. It came after the home opener when Indiana’s crowd showed up with plenty of energy, but the team on the floor needed time before it could catch up. Slawson and Jackson were the ones who helped change that.
Slawson packed a lot into 16 minutes. He finished with 4 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks, and his +7 was the best mark on the team. Beyond the box score, he kept giving Indiana life with hustle plays - diving for loose balls, getting deflections, and helping the Pacers make things a little more interesting after they had fallen behind by 37.
Jackson did his part in a different way. His three-point shot wasn’t falling, as he went 1-for-6 from deep, but he still delivered 8 points, 3 assists, and a steal in 17 minutes. It was another useful night for him after he had played a major role in the opening night win in New Orleans.
The praise wasn’t limited to the coaching staff, either. Tyrese Haliburton said "I thought our second group was amazing, specifically Q (Quenton Jackson) and Slaw (Jalen Slawson). They brought great energy for us."
Carlisle had already seen enough from Slawson to believe there was something there. Near the end of last season, he said "Slawson has got an NBA body.
He's got NBA skill which is rebounding, and running, and his ability to finish on the move. His shooting is on the come.
It's a really nice pickup for us." Slawson then backed that up with some success late last season, followed by a strong summer league, and now he’s carrying that same energy into the 2026-2027 Pacers.
Jackson, meanwhile, has kept providing something the staff can use whenever he gets the call.
That puts a few other rotation players on notice. It’s still early, and two games is far too small a sample to make sweeping judgments, but Indiana is also trying to chase big goals this year. In that kind of environment, every minute matters, and the staff will keep leaning on whoever it trusts most to win games.
Jarace Walker and Kelly Oubre Jr. have both gotten off to slow starts and have struggled. Oubre Jr. is not in danger of dropping out of the rotation, but his minutes could shrink if Slawson and Jackson keep earning more trust.
Walker’s situation feels more unsettled; he could slip out of the rotation if the inconsistency continues, even though he still has the tools to turn it around. That is something to monitor in the near future.
Indiana’s schedule is about to demand a lot more from everyone. The Pacers will play their first back-to-back of the season in Brooklyn and Milwaukee on Sunday and Monday before returning home to face Philadelphia on Wednesday. With three games in four days ahead, players like Slawson and Jackson should keep getting chances to bring energy when their names are called.
In Other News...
Pacers Home Opener Turned Ugly After Aaron Nesmith Set Off Chaos
Tyrese Haliburtons first home game back at Gainbridge Fieldhouse after returning from his Achilles injury had the kind of energy Indiana expected, with the Pacers welcoming the Dallas Mavericks in a spot that should have been about celebration and a fresh start. Instead, the mood shifted in a hurry when Aaron Nesmith delivered a hard foul on Cooper Flagg, turning a normal early-season atmosphere into something far more tense.
Flagg hurt his left shoulder on the play and was ruled out for the rest of the game, and the officials responded by issuing technical fouls to both Nesmith and Naji Marshall in the aftermath. For a night that was supposed to center on Haliburtons return and the buildings first look at him at home, the Pacers quickly found themselves dealing with the kind of chaos no one in the arena wanted to see. [Read more 🡒]
Pacers Suddenly Face Heat Over One Hard Foul On Cooper Flagg
A hard foul by Aaron Nesmith on Cooper Flagg turned into one of the sharper talking points from the Pacers game against the Mavericks, especially after Flagg came away with a left shoulder injury and did not return because of soreness. Nesmith was assessed a flagrant one on the play, and even in a game Indiana ultimately lost, the moment quickly became the kind of sequence that travels far beyond the box score.
For the Pacers, the fallout was less about the result and more about the optics of a play that drew immediate criticism on social media. Hard fouls happen, but this one left Flagg hurt, gave Dallas a tangible edge in the moment and put Nesmith squarely in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons. [Read more 🡒]
Pacers Still Have One Alarming Problem After Blowout Loss
The Pacers loss to Dallas was not just a bad night on the scoreboard, it was the kind of game that highlighted how far they still have to go defensively. The Mavericks controlled the flow from early on and never really let Indiana settle in, even as Tyrese Haliburton and Pascal Siakam managed to put together productive nights for the Pacers. Kyrie Irvings 24 points set the tone for Dallas, while PJ Washington added 20 points and 13 rebounds to keep the pressure on throughout.
What stood out most for Indiana was how little resistance it could offer when the game tilted out of reach. The offense had stretches of frustration as well, and Kelly Oubre Jr. endured a rough shooting night that only added to the teams struggles. For a Pacers group that has spent much of the season trying to prove it can hold up on both ends, this was the latest reminder that one glaring issue still needs fixing. [Read more 🡒]