Three games into the season, the Pacers are uncertain, unproven and unproductive on offense, and those issues have distracted them from their intended defensive mindset.
When neither your offense nor defense are operating well, that tends to be a problem. And the problem for them now is that they're 0-3, with Saturday's 97-76 loss to Utah being the most dispiriting yet. Nobody was anticipating a sprint out of the blocks with a new system and seven new faces, but nobody was expecting this sort of stumble, either.
Three games in, and they're shooting just 41 percent from the field, have committed 57 turnovers, have taken 10 fewer foul shots than opponents, have been outrebounded by 16, and, most telling of all, have been outscored by 46 points in the paint.