Myles Turner and Rick Carlisle discuss the Indiana Pacers preseason play so far

The Pacers are 1-1 in preseason play. Turner and Carlisle share their thoughts.

Oct 5, 2022; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; Indiana Pacers coach Rick Carlisle directs his team in the second half against the Charlotte Hornets at Spectrum Center. The Indiana Pacers won 122-97. Mandatory Credit: Nell Redmond-USA TODAY Sports

The Indiana Pacers are 1-1 in the preseason so far, and while their offense has looked solid in both games they've played, their defense has struggled with consistency.

In the Pacers preseason opening win over the Hornets, they conceded just 97 points and played strong defense. The Hornets only mustered 43 points by halftime and shot 34.4% from the field that night. Indiana was rotating well, cutting off ball handlers, and forcing stops.

Two nights later, the defense looked unrecognizable in a loss against the Knicks. New York guards were skating past Pacer defenders and driving to the rim with ease. In general, the blue and gold looked less connected on the defensive end, and they only forced nine turnovers all night. New York scored 105 points in the final three quarters of the game and led by as much as 25 on their way to victory.

Aaron Nesmith didn't play in the second half of that game due to an injury, and he was a key piece for the Indiana defense against the Hornets. But the team's defense was struggling even prior to his exit, and they need to find more consistency if they are going to improve defensively this season.

"For us, our biggest area of improvement right now is defensively. I feel like that first game, we got out and got the jitters out," center Myles Turner said of the Pacers on Sunday. He is the team's best defender. "Last game, we slipped a little bit on the defensive end. That's what we need to put our emphasis on."

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The Knicks were getting up whatever shots they wanted. They attempted over 75% of their looks from either inside five feet or beyond the three point line, which are considered the best shots in basketball in the modern NBA. The Pacers could hardly contain them or make things difficult.

Without much pressure, New York took care of the ball and attacked. They made it to the foul line for 27 foul shots, and they canned 26 of them. Indiana had no answers, and they'll need to work on making their defense more consistent.

In Charlotte, they forced more turnovers and were more disruptive in general. They still struggled with fouling, but they prevented the Hornets from getting comfortable, and it guided them to victory.

"The Charlotte game was excellent," head coach Rick Carlisle said on Sunday. "New York was an opponent that was at a higher level. We had a couple of pretty good quarters and a couple of not so good quarters. We'll work on the consistency."

Last year, Indiana struggled mightily on the defensive end. They failed to execute their schemes and with frequent injuries, it was tough to find consistency. From the All-Star break through the end of the season, the Pacers were the second-worst defensive team in the league.

That's why, in training camp this season, Carlisle has had his team work on defense twice as often as offense. They work on schemes, technique, details, everything. It's what the team needs to improve after a down year on defense in 2021-22.

In one preseason game, that focus showed on the court. In the other one, it didn't. The Pacers will need to improve defensively so that games like the one in Charlotte become the norm instead of what happened in New York.

"We'll make some adjustments," Carlisle said. Fortunately for the blue and gold, they take on the Knicks again this coming Wednesday — this time at home. That will be a great barometer of the quality of adjustments and growth the team can make from game to game.

The Pacers are a young team with multiple new players, so they likely won't be a great defensive team this season. But they are working on the right things and know they must improve on the less glamorous end of the floor. Wednesday, Indiana's first home preseason game, will be a good test of the team's progress on that end of the court.

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