The Indiana Pacers blew everyone away last season when they found themselves in the Eastern Conference Finals against future NBA Champions the Boston Celtics.

However, it looks like they’re having trouble replicating last year’s success, currently boasting a 9-13 record which puts them in a three-way tie for eighth place in the Eastern Conference alongside the Chicago Bulls and the Brooklyn Nets, who they play on Wednesday, Dec. 4.

It looks like NBA analysts have noticed this drop since most NBA Power Rankings from major publications have them in about the same position.

The NBA Insiders at ESPN actually have the Pacers potentially improving, especially due to the recent return of guard Andrew Nembhard.

“Indiana hopes the return of guard Andrew Nembhard can provide a spark for its struggling team,” Jamal Collier of ESPN said. “Nembhard returned Sunday from a 12-game absence with a knee injury and scored 14 points in 15 minutes while providing a defensive boost for a Pacers team in need of it.”

“Indiana is hoping to get him up to speed with a slate of Eastern Conference foes upcoming, including Brooklyn, Chicago and Charlotte to round out the week.”

Because of this assessment, ESPN improved the Pacers’ ranking from No. 20 last week to No. 19 this week.

However, other publications weren’t as kind.

John Schuhmann of NBA.com dropped the Pacers from No. 19 to No. 21, noting that the team has now lost six straight games on the road in a row.

Similarly to Collier, Schumann pointed out the improvements that came with the return of Nembhard. That being said, Indiana is still missing Aaron Nesmith and Ben Sheppard.

Schumann also noted the discrepancies of the Pacers’ starting players versus the bench.

“The Pacers have outscored their opponents by 8.9 points per 100 possessions in 141 minutes with their four currently healthy starters on the floor together,” Schumann said. “The flip side of that is that the Pacers have had the league’s 24th-ranked bench, having been outscored by 14.4 points per 100 possessions with Pascal Siakam off the floor.”

Finally, Law Murray of The Athletic also had Indiana drop to No. 21, noting the team’s injury woes and providing some praise for rookie forward Johnny Furphy.

So far in the season, Furphy has averaged 8.8 minutes, 2.7 points, 1.1 total rebounds, 0.4 assists, 0.3 steals, and 0.3 blocks per game across 12 games.

Needless to say, the Pacers will need to turn their fortunes around this week if they expect to move up the Eastern Conference standings, especially since they’ll be playing the teams that they’re tied with.

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