Indiana Pacers Lose to Washington Wizards In OT

Nov 5, 2014; Washington, DC, USA; Indiana Pacers guard Donald Sloan (15) dribbles the ball as Washington Wizards guard John Wall (2) defends in the first quarter at Verizon Center. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

Washington, D.C. – The short-handed Indiana Pacers once again put up a valiant effort, this time on the road against a very talented Washington Wizards squad in overtime. Indiana lost 96-94, and had an attempt to win the game on a Roy Hibbert three or tie on a Chris Copeland put back with just two seconds remaining in the game. Unfortunately, neither shot went down and the Pacers are now 1-4 on the season.

It’s been a rough year to watch the Pacers, especially because of how much potential is on the roster. There is no question that Indiana will get back to winning a good amount of basketball games when their key players get healthy, because they’re competing in just about every game with their deep bench players. Adding Gal Mekel is going to help as well in the meantime, but they desperately need their key players back on the court.

Donald Sloan came through with a monster performance tonight for the Pacers, scoring 31 points to go along with seven assists and six rebounds. He has been coming into his own this season, and is showing that he deserves consistent playing time somewhere.

Copeland came off the bench to score 19 points on the night, but shot just 8-21 from the field and 3-9 from behind the three-point arc. He also came up with 11 rebounds on the night as well. Solomon Hill was the only other double figure scorer for the Pacers on the night with 14 points and eight rebound.

John Wall powered the Wizards to this win, scoring 31 points to match Sloan and also dishing out 10 assists, grabbing six rebounds, and recording three steals. Garrett Temple had a nice game as well with 16 points, while Marcin Gortat and Paul Pierce scored 14 and 11 respectively to round out the double digit scorers.

Indiana is now looking forward to their next game on Friday night on the road against the Boston Celtics. Mekel might very well see some minutes, but either way he will join the team.