Exhibition play rarely informs on the regular season, but one particular trend, should it continue, could end up throwing cold water on Indiana’s pace minus space experiment. Take the team’s final preseason game against the Bucks for instance. The Pacers committed 12 fewer turnovers than Milwaukee and scored 12 more fast break points, but they got obliterated on the glass, 50-34, and shot a woeful 28 percent from three, resulting in a 111-103 loss.
Granted, playing at breakneck speed in contests of zero-consequence tends to lead to tired legs which can result in players guarding with their hands instead of their feet, but this outcome seems to encapsulate the precarious position the Pacers, reliant on speed and conditioning to compensate for lack of off-ball threats and potentially leaky defense, have the potential to be in this season.