The Pacers made it through day one of training camp and Rick Carlisle delivered on his Media Day promise that defense would be a main emphasis, at a 2-to-1 clip for his developing squad.
Following practice, Carlisle praised the lineup of TJ McConnell, Bennedict Mathurin, Aaron Nesmith, Terry Taylor and Isaiah Jackson for being ‘dominant’ against other lineups. That group would be considered a second unit, so the day one ‘starters’ were Tyrese Haliburton, Buddy Hield, Chris Duarte, Jalen Smith and Myles Turner.
In defensive-minded situations, that second unit on paper would certainly be better, but these lineups are far from settled.