(Photo credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images)
The visiting Orlando Magic will look to prolong the Indiana Pacers’ dreadful season on Wednesday afternoon as the teams close out 2025 at Indianapolis.
Just six months removed from being a win away from an NBA championship, the Pacers have the league’s worst record at 6-27 as the close of a roller-coaster year approaches.
Crushing injuries — including Tyrese Haliburton’s torn Achilles in the NBA Finals and Obi Toppin’s foot fracture — have forced Indiana to use 24 players this season.
The Pacers have lost nine consecutive games and a loss on Wednesday would match the franchise’s fifth-longest losing streak over a single season. That mark of futility was set across the final 10 games of the 2021-22 season.
In its most recent game Monday, head coach Rick Carlisle’s group trailed by as many as 28 points before outscoring the Houston Rockets 41-21 in the fourth quarter of a 126-119 road loss. In a woeful campaign, the veteran head coach is looking for small victories.
‘There are some things that are positives throughout games. The problem that we’ve got to tackle is the inconsistency,’ Carlisle said. ‘The middle part of the game (Monday) we were very poor. The fourth quarter was the only quarter we won in the game.
‘As good as it felt to fight back, you’re not going to win games having to fight back every night. It’s a difficult league. A lot of very good teams. Another one on Wednesday.’
Pascal Siakam, who has missed just one game this season, leads the team with 23.4 points and 6.7 rebounds per game. Bennedict Mathurin adds 18.3 points and Andrew Nembhard chips in 17.1 with 6.7 assists.
The Magic, who will host the Pacers in a rematch Sunday, is another team searching for consistency as 2026 draws near. Orlando has alternated wins and losses across their last six games and blew a 21-point lead on Monday in a 107-106 road setback against the Toronto Raptors.
Although his team is in the Eastern Conference playoff picture as the regular season’s halfway point nears, Orlando head coach Jamahl Mosley wants to see his group fix a pair of problems ahead of Wednesday’s meeting.
‘It’s been the same thing that’s been kicking our butt for the last five games: offensive rebounds and transition points,’ said Mosley, whose team allowed 21 Toronto offensive boards and was outscored 30-6 in fast break points on Monday.
‘Those are the small details of the game that get you beat in a one-point game.’
Orlando has tried to weather the storm without leading scorer Franz Wagner (22.7 points), who went down with a high-ankle sprain on Dec.7. Jalen Suggs (15.4 points) has missed seven straight games with a left hip contusion.
The Magic are relying on third-year guard Anthony Black, who is averaging career-highs of 15.5 points, 4.2 rebounds and 3.5 assists.
‘Good game or bad game, you’ve got to hop on the plane, go to the next city and flush it,’ Black said. ‘You’ve got to get ready for the next game. It’s a long season.’
–Field Level Media