One season after run to Finals, Pacers reach a new low

The Pacers keep finding new ways to lose, and Tuesday’s 120-116 home defeat to the Cavaliers made franchise history for all the wrong reasons.

Thirteen straight losses. That’s the number now. The longest skid the Pacers have ever had. Not exactly the banner anyone was hoping to hang.

Indiana actually looked fine early. Better than fine, really. Up by as many as nine. Leading 60-53 at the half. Playing like a team that hadn’t lost a dozen in a row. And then reality showed up.

The Cavaliers leaned on size, strength, and patience. Sixty-four points in the paint will do that. So will a 57-43 edge on the glass. Cleveland didn’t rush. Didn’t panic. It simply waited.

The fourth quarter told the whole story. A 36-23 Cavs advantage. Darius Garland scoring 14 of his 29 points when it mattered most. The Pacers scoring just enough to stay close, but never enough to flip the script.

Jay Huff had a night. Twenty points. Four threes. Pascal Siakam, not so much. Nine of 23 shooting from the floor in a game that demanded efficiency more than volume.

History doesn’t offer much comfort here. This is the fourth time the Pacers have lost at least 12 straight. The previous three seasons still ended with at least 20 wins. This one is headed somewhere else.

At 6-31, Indiana is tracking toward 13 wins. That would tie the 1998-99 Bulls for the fewest victories ever by a team that reached the NBA Finals the season before.

Recent precedent isn’t friendly either. The post-Finals Warriors of 2019-20 cratered to 15 wins amid injuries and attrition. Stars gone. Stars hurt. Bottom of the league by every meaningful measure.

The Pacers are now living in that neighborhood. And until something changes, the losses will keep stacking the same way they have been — close, frustrating, and historic in all the wrong ways.