The Indiana Pacers and New York Knicks battled on Sunday night time, and the sport got here right down to clutch moments. That is dangerous information for the Pacers. Since December 5, the Pacers have performed eight video games, and all eight of them have concerned clutch time, which the NBA defines as a sport being inside 5 factors with 5 or fewer minutes remaining.

The Pacers have gone 3-5 in that stretch, and two of these wins have been towards the Golden State Warriors. They’re 1-5 towards all different opponents in that stretch — the blue and gold have struggled to shut video games just lately. Their battle with the Knicks was no exception.

With 5 minutes to go, Indiana led by six. They have been on a 12-4 run and appeared like that they had New York discovered, all they needed to do was preserve making use of stress. However the closing minutes of the sport went the other method.

From that time on, the Pacers made simply two photographs and missed six. They turned the ball over twice and missed 4 free throws — all from Myles Turner. The Knicks, in the meantime, scored 16 factors within the closing 5 minutes and sliced the Pacers open. Ultimately, the Pacers fell by three for his or her fourth loss in 5 video games, and their play down the stretch is guilty.

“New York made some huge photographs, made some huge performs offensively,” Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle mentioned of crunch time. “It is just a few minor issues,” he added of what went mistaken for his crew.

This has been a theme for the Pacers of late. Within the month of December, they lead the league with eight video games that ended with clutch time. In these moments, Indiana has the twentieth greatest offensive score (98.0) within the NBA and the worst (141.3) defensive score. That -43.3 web score is thirtieth within the affiliation. The Pacers have been atrocious with the sport on the road, they usually have been once more versus New York.

Outcomes, and stats, in a smaller pattern may be deceptive. However the jarring a part of the Pacers clutch play is their model. All through this season, Indiana is fifth within the NBA in tempo with 102 possessions per 48 minutes. They run typically and play quick.

Within the clutch throughout the month, the Pacers tempo is 96.75, which ranks nineteenth within the NBA. They decelerate drastically late in video games, which is not how they play. That makes them look inexperienced and ineffective.

“Yeah, we decelerate within the fourth as a result of we’re attacking mismatches and issues like that,” Pacers level guard Tyrese Haliburton mentioned after the battle towards the Knicks. He would not assume that the slower tempo is impacting the crew’s play, although. He as a substitute thinks it is a pure consequence of a less complicated fourth quarter sport, and he is not involved with that change.

The Pacers are a younger crew, and they’re going to determine how one can win shut video games as they develop collectively. However this sport, the crew’s fifth clutch loss within the month, was proof that they nonetheless have a method to go in that space. With the loss, the blue and gold fell to 15-16. They’re below .500 for the primary time since they have been 5-6 on November 11.

“We have gotta end video games. We’re taking part in nicely for like (three)-and-a-half quarters,” wing Aaron Nesmith mentioned after the sport. “We have gotta determine that out.”

Nesmith was a shiny spot on this sport, ending with a career-high in factors and rebounds with 23 and ten, respectively. He had his greatest sport ever within the loss.

Haliburton additionally completed with a double-double, contributing 15 factors and ten assists. Buddy Hield dropped 23 factors.

The Pacers will try and get again to .500 on Wednesday after they journey to Boston to tackle the Celtics. Boston has essentially the most wins within the NBA, so it will likely be a tricky battle.

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