The primary answer to what's ailing the Pacers was not to be found on the practice court at St. Vincent Center on Monday. That is, until coach Nate McMillan gathered the players for the closing huddle and lecture and Domantas Sabonis walked out of the training room, with no shoe covering the sprained ankle wrapped in tape.
The Pacers dropped three of their four games last week, all to losing teams. They lost at Detroit on Monday, at Dallas on Wednesday, rallied to beat Minnesota on Thursday, and lost to Orlando at Bankers Life Fieldhouse on Saturday. It doesn't require in-depth analysis to get to the bottom of those dispiriting defeats.