When you're missing two players who are supposed to be your starting guards and you're less athletic than your opponent, your margin of error is narrow. Certainly too narrow to accommodate 14 missed layups and eight missed foul shots, not to mention a sluggish defense.
For the Pacers, homecourt advantage in the first round of the playoffs almost certainly crumbled amid the burden of those shortcomings in their 117-97 loss to Boston at Bankers Life Fieldhouse on Friday. Now it becomes a matter of regathering the pieces of a fractured offense and defense and regaining confidence.