The Indiana Pacers have slowly but surely started to get healthy this season. After losing both backup centers, a starting guard, a starting forward, and a reserve guard to injuries, they have mostly gotten back to being healthy.

These injuries were the primary reason why the Pacers started out just 6-10 on the season. They weren’t able to win games with regularity because they didn’t have any continuity in the lineup.

Now that they do have continuity, the Pacers are playing much better basketball. They have won five straight games as well as 11 of their last 14.

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As healthy as they are right now, there is still one player who continues to be out. That is starting small forward Aaron Nesmith.

Nesmith has played in just six games this season due to a severe ankle sprain that he suffered. He has been slowly working his way back to the court.

As the Pacers get ready to face the best team in the NBA, Nesmith remains out. He is the only player who is in the rotation listed on the injury report for the Pacers.

There is still no firm timetable for his return. All Rick Carlisle will say when he is asked about Nesmith is that he is making progress.

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Nesmith has been a crucial player for the Indiana Pacers, especially last season. He emerged as their best perimeter defender and one of their best 3-point shooters.

Indiana has back-to-back games against the Cavs coming up. This will be a great litmus test for them to determine if they need to make a big move at the trade deadline or if they can stand pat.

Because he has been hurt for most of the season, there’s a chance that Nesmith could be in a trade package for the right player. Any move the Pacers would make would likely be closer to the deadline.

Aaron Nesmith is averaging 9.2 points, four rebounds, and one assist this season. He’s also shooting 52.8 percent from the field and 54.5 percent from beyond the 3-point line.

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Thoughts on an 85-60 loss to Iowa:

Iowa City is a long way from the Bahamas.

But tonight’s game from Indiana could have fit right into its Battle 4 Atlantis performance.

As Iowa began to pull away early in the second half, the Hoosiers completely folded. They failed to compete. The body language was poor. They couldn’t defend. They couldn’t score. They looked like a team that had given up.

Iowa got up by as much as 30 before settling on a 25-point victory. That 25-point defeat for the Hoosiers? It’s the largest loss during regular season Big Ten play in the Mike Woodson era.

Iowa entered this game 121st on KenPom in adjusted defensive efficiency but held Indiana to just .83 points per possession tonight. That’s Indiana’s lowest output of the season. The previous low? The .85 points per possession it scored against Louisville in the Bahamas.

The Hoosiers have played well against zone defense this season, but that wasn’t the case tonight. Iowa’s 2-3 zone turned them into jump shooters. The Hoosiers just couldn’t find a consistent rhythm against it. On paper, Indiana entered this one as the far superior rebounding team. It’s an area that’s helped the Hoosiers succeed during their three-game conference winning streak. But the Hawkeyes snagged 29 percent of their offensive rebounds tonight, while the Hoosiers rebounded just 24 percent.

Iowa also absolutely feasted off Indiana’s 16 turnovers. The Hawkeyes scored 24 points off turnovers on a night the Hoosiers turned the ball over on 22 percent of their possessions. Indiana was particularly poor with the ball in the first half and entered the locker room turning it over on 32 percent of its possessions.

Oumar Ballo had a rough start. Iowa doubled him from the get-go and Owen Freeman poked at him, too. The Arizona transfer had four turnovers by the 14:38 mark in the first half when he was yanked from the game by Woodson. Ballo has been a dominant force for Indiana of late. And while he still posted a double-double — 10 points, 13 rebounds — Freeman bested him tonight. The sophomore can play out on the perimeter and his quickness and array of moves made him a tough matchup for the bigger Ballo. Freeman finished with 16 points (8-of-13) and 12 boards. He also defended the paint well, racking up a game-high four blocks while also adding three steals. Ballo didn’t block a shot this evening.

Mackenzie Mgbako played only 16 minutes and scored six points. He’s 2-of-14 from the floor over his last two games.

Iowa hit 11-of-24 (46 percent) from 3-point range. Indiana made just 4-of-16 (25 percent). After heating up in the second half, Payton Sandfort led all scorers with 23 points.

“When you go out on the road in the Big Ten, you can’t turn it over, you gotta rebound with your opponent and you gotta make shots,” Woodson said after the game. “We failed in all three areas tonight.”

Fail Indiana did tonight. The start of its toughest stretch of the season was a disaster. With better teams just over the horizon, the Hoosiers need to forget about this one and not let it affect them.

We’ll soon see how they respond with the Illini coming to Bloomington for a Tuesday night bout.

(Photo credit: Big Ten Basketball on X)

Filed to: Iowa Hawkeyes