In the last game before the All-Star break for each team, Indiana Pacers travel to the country’s capital to meet the low Washington trolls on Wednesday.
Indiana has lost three out of four matches and wants to get into the week-long break with speed when it ends the unofficial first half of the season against the NBA-worthy magicians.
Pacers fell to New York Knicks 128-115 in Indianapolis on Tuesday. Indiana shot only 29 percent (9-for-31) on 3-point attempts, but it is the other end of the court that coach Rick Carlisle wants to see improves. Knicks shot 53.8 percent from the floor.
“We were not good. We really fought on defense,” Carlisle said. “It was just a tough night. We had a hard time getting anything to go and the conversations did not go. It was just a hard night.”
A bright place both on Tuesday and throughout the season for Indiana has been All-Star Pascal Siakam, who had 24 points in the loss and an average of 20.8 in the year.
“We just have to play better,” said Siakam about Indiana’s latest ski. “We have to keep fighting and staying together. This is the NBA. There are times where you go through periods that don’t play your best. As long as we recognize the things we don’t do well and try to fix them, I think we will have a good time. ”
Siakam has darkened the 20-point mark in seven of the last eight matches. His points average and rebounding average (7.4 per match) both lead Indiana. Tyrese haliburton adds 17.8 ppg and 8.5 assists per competition.
Since he won a season best three games in a row to start February, the magicians have lost three in a row. In line with the worst season in franchise history, Washington is well on its way to asserting the highest odds to secure the first overall election in the NBA draft.
The magicians have found offensive form in recent weeks, an average of 117.3 points in February. The positive trend continued on Monday, when Washington had nine two-digit scores in his home loss at 131-121 to San Antonio Spurs.
The sorcerers fell after 18 points early but split back to take the lead before eventually taking their league-worth 44th defeat.
“Loved the fight, loved competitiveness, did not love the start,” said Washington coach Brian Keefe. “We came down 18, and you never want to do it during the first quarter. We cut it to three for (half time) and it was a back and forth play the rest of the way. Our fight was good.”
Jordan Poole fought and joins only 4 out of 18 shooting, but he leads the magicians with an average of 20.7 points per match. After shopping other leading goal scorers Kyle Kuzma to Milwaukee Bucks, Washington will rely more on Malcolm Brogdon (12.7 ppg) and Bilal Coulibaly (12.6) to fill the absence.
-Field level media
