A year after making the Finals of what was then the NBA In-Season Tournament, the 2024-25 vintage of the Indiana Pacers didn’t even get out of the group play stage in this season’s freshly re-dubbed Emirates NBA Cup.

The 9-14 Pacers, currently the Eastern Conference’s No. 10 seed, went 0-4 in their East Group B NBA Cup bracket, posting a disturbing -60 point differential across the four losses. The Milwaukee Bucks went 4-0 and advanced out of their group — which also included the Detroit Pistons (who finished 3-1 in the group play stage), the Miami Heat (2-2), and the Toronto Raptors (1-3) — to the quarterfinals in Las Vegas next week. They’ll play the Orlando Magic in a quarterfinals matchup on Tuesday.

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Per Alex Golden of The Blue And Golden, the Pacers’ schedule for next week has been determined. The team will head to Philadelphia to suit up against the 76ers on December 13, and will host the New Orleans Pelicans on December 15.

Last year, the Pacers fell to the Los Angeles Lakers, 123-109. At this point, the team had yet to acquire two-time All-NBA power forward Pascal Siakam via a mid-season trade, and thus it was starting Obi Toppin at the four spot and eventual Toronto Raptors small forward Bruce Brown at the three. In that game, All-NBA Pacers point guard Tyrese Haliburton led the way for the losing side, scoring 20 points on 8-of-14 shooting from the field (2-of-8 from long range) and 2-of-3 shooting from the foul line, while also dishing out 11 dimes, pulling down one rebound, blocking a shot and swiping one steal.

All-NBA Lakers center Anthony Davis shown out for L.A., scoring 41 points on 16-of-24 shooting from the field and 9-of-13 from the foul line, pulling down a whopping 20 rebounds, passing for five assists and blocking four shots. All-NBA Lakers forward LeBron James chipped in 24 points on 10-of-21 shooting from the floor and 4-of-5 shooting from the charity stripe, grabbed 11 rebounds, passed for four assists and snagged two steals.

Ultimately, the NBA Cup is a fun if semi-meaningless competition, designed to dress up the doldrums of the overlong regular season. What matters is who’s left standing at the end. Even on that front, however, Indiana has clear room for improvement. The good news is, although the 76ers and Pelicans may be loaded with All-Stars, injuries, age and chemistry issues have taken their toll on both clubs, who now number among the league’s worst. Indiana should be able to beat both of them on its quest to climb to a .500 record.

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