Indiana Pacers Up-And-Down Play Versus Zone Defense Highlights A Flaw

INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana Pacers lost to the Milwaukee Bucks last Tuesday before beating the Miami Heat two days later, and their effectiveness against a certain type of defense was the story of each game. When the Pacers went against zone coverage, their results varied.

The Bucks wrecked everything for the blue and gold when they went into a zone. Milwaukee has size up and down the roster — with the exception of star guard Damian Lillard and 89 seconds of play from Ryan Rollins, every Bucks player who hit the hardwood against the Pacers was at least 6 feet 4 inches tall. Giannis Antetokounmpo and his teammates have length everywhere.

As a result, when the Bucks drop into any type of zone defense, they cover a ton of ground. And the Pacers struggled to break it down. Indiana held a 19-point lead near the middle of the third quarter, but they floundered on offense the rest of the night while Antetokounmpo got going. The Bucks roared back for an eight-point victory.

“We settled for outside shots. We didn’t attack it well, obviously,” Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle said of his team’s work vs zones after that game. “We have to do a better job attacking.” The head coach noted earlier in the season before an outing against Portland his group sees more zone than any other roster.

The Pacers, according to Synergy Sports, faced a zone defense 23 times in that game against the Bucks. That was the highest total they’ve seen all season — a few teams went into a zone 10+ times against Indiana, but most of them only settled for that defensive style against the Pacers second unit. The Bucks were comfortable sitting in it more than most teams.

Synergy logged six possessions for the Pacers that ended with a made shot against the Bucks zone as well as one trip where Indiana drew a foul. The other 16 chances all ended with a turnover or a missed shot. Some of those were good looks, but Indiana’s effectiveness wasn’t there.

“We didn’t attack the gaps well enough,” Pacers point guard T.J. McConnell said of his team’s approach in those moments. “Usually when we get a guy flashing, we make a play out of it. We just didn’t today.”

Two days later, the Pacers faced the Heat. Miami is guided by head coach Erik Spoelstra, a sideline leader who is known for being sharp with zone defenses — both when to use them and with how his team executes them. But the Heat, per Synergy, only went to zone coverages nine times against Indiana.

That’s because the Pacers crushed that zone. They scored five times and didn’t turn the ball over once. Their offense was more successful that night, and they rolled out of Miami with a double-digit win.

“I think we need to get into the paint more,” guard Andrew Nembhard said of what Indiana needs to do against zones. “[Run] multiple actions, play deeper into the clock.”

What does the Pacers play against zone defenses say about the team?

Indiana knows what it takes to beat a zone defense. Most teams understand it. Especially against standard 2-3 alignments, getting the ball into the middle is deadly. Well-timed cuts are effective, as are drives that earn the attention of a defender covering a certain zone.

The Pacers think that on their worst nights against zones, they stop pressuring the basket. They get too complacent tossing the ball around the perimeter and never play the way they want. When Indiana operates up-tempo, they are at their best.

But it doesn’t happen all the time, and teams are willing to go into zone defense more against the Pacers than other teams — only the Orlando Magic have gone against a zone set more often than Indiana this year, per Synergy.

Most of the top-ten teams that see zones most often share one thing in common — they have a unique three-point shot profile. They either don’t take very many threes or make very many. The Pacers, for example, rank 25th in three-point attempts per game. The Magic are dead last in three-point percentage.

Other teams that see zone alignments often are the Dallas Mavericks (22nd in three-point attempts per game), the Portland Trail Blazers (20th in attempts, 27th in three-point percentage), and the Toronto Raptors (29th in attempts, 22nd in percentage). Charlotte and Oklahoma City are both bottom-11 in long-range shooting percentage and top-1o in the amount of times they see zones.

Other groups that have poor-shooting lead ball handlers (Chicago, Brooklyn pre-trades, and Memphis) also see zone coverages often. The theme is clear: opposing teams are willing to sit in a zone defense more often against rosters that can’t punish them with shooting.

The common thinking is that shooting is a good way to bust up a zone defense. The Pacers rank 20th in points vs zones this season, and the Magic, Grizzlies, Trail Blazers, Hornets, and Mavericks are all in the bottom-1o. There’s a trend to this.

Indiana has been trying to take more threes of late. Their average attempts per game is up in recent weeks. “I feel like a lot of our threes are coming off inside-out [play] right now. Getting in the paint, drawing two [defenders], swing the ball around, that’s really opening things up,” Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton said of his team’s increased volume from deep. “It’s kind of counterintuitive that we’re shooting as many threes as we are, but I think that’s due to guys being at the rim more.”

That has worked well for the Pacers, and they’ve been winning in that stretch. Their bench still lacks some outside shooting punch, though, especially with Aaron Nesmith sidelined. Perhaps the amount the Pacers see zone is more of a roster signal than an effectiveness issue.

Last season, Indiana was a group that was above the median in three-point attempts per game. This season, they are close to the bottom five. Losing Doug McDermott, Jalen Smith, and Buddy Hield within the last calendar year is a factor in that dip, as are struggles for Haliburton early in the season — though the All-NBA guard has recovered.

A lack of three-point attempts isn’t the only reason teams use zone defenses against the Pacers. McConnell theorized that it is primarily to switch things up, or because a team can’t guard the Pacers in man-to-man coverage. And the Pacers showed against Miami they can respond to zone defenses with success. But the frequency at which they see zone alignments as a team does reveal something about the Pacers roster, and something they are working to address by shooting more.