The Pacers’ 13th consecutive loss sets a franchise record and puts them on pace for 13 wins this season. Trevor Ruszkowski / Imagn Images
The Indiana Pacers set a new franchise record with their 13th straight loss Tuesday, falling to the Cleveland Cavaliers 119-116.
The Pacers led by as many as nine points early on, but they couldn’t overcome the Cavaliers’ size, as illustrated by Cleveland outscoring Indiana 64-42 on points in the paint. Center Jay Huff scored a season-high 20 points and made 4 of 7 3-point attempts, but All-Star forward Pascal Siakam had a rough night offensively (9 of 23 shooting).
The Pacers led 60-53 at halftime, but the Cavaliers pulled away in the fourth quarter thanks to a 36-23 advantage in the final frame, during which Cleveland’s Darius Garland scored 14 of his 29 game-high points. The Cavaliers also held a 57-43 advantage in rebounds.
This is the fourth time (1989, 1985 and 1983) the Pacers’ franchise has endured a losing streak of at least 12 games. The Pacers won at least 20 games in each of those seasons. At 6-31, the Pacers are on pace for their lowest single-season win percentage in history.
Tuesday’s loss puts the Pacers on pace for a 13-win season, which would tie the 1998-99 Bulls for the fewest by a team that made the NBA Finals in the previous season.
The most recent comparable would be the 2019-20 Golden State Warriors, who were coming off a finals loss to the Raptors and went 15-50 due to injuries. Those Warriors lost Kevin Durant via free agency and Klay Thompson to an ACL tear. Golden State finished the season ranked last in net rating that season (minus-8.6).
Like these Pacers, those Warriors also missed their star point guard as Stephen Curry played in a career-low five games, shooting a career-worst 40.2 percent and making only 24.5 percent of his 3-pointers.
The Warriors drafted James Wiseman second that year, and the Sacramento Kings selected Tyrese Haliburton with the 12th pick.