Pacers defense continues to struggle in 122-103 preseason loss to Rockets

The Pacers fell 122-103 to the Rockets at the Toyota Center in Houston on Tuesday in their second preseason game.

The Pacers are now 0-2 in preseason play and have their preseason home opener at 7 p.m. Monday against the Hawks.

Here are four observations.

Defense still struggling to keep the ball out of the paint

The Pacers didn't get bullied on defense as much Tuesday as they did Sunday when they allowed Memphis to score 78 points in the paint, which is unsurprising because few teams can match the Grizzlies size. That said, the Pacers' defense still isn't near what they wanted to be as they allowed six Rockets players to score in double figures.

Houston scored 58 points in the paint and shot 46.7% from the floor. The Pacers challenged a lot of those and the Rockets made just 29 of their 58 paint field goal attempts, but allowing that many attempts is a problem. The Rockets finished with 1.17 points per possession to the Pacers' 0.95. Rockets rookie Cam Whitmore scored 15 points on 6 of 10 shooting, including 3 of 5 from 3-point range. Center Alperen Senguin added 15.

The Pacers also struggled to keep the Rockets off the free throw line, committing 31 fouls to the Rockets' 23. Houston made 28 of 39 free throws.

"The thing that's killing us the most is the fouling," Pacers coach Rick Carlisle told reporters in Houston. "We've just gotta do a lot better job of that. We're doing a decent job in some statistical areas, but as long as we keep putting them on the free throw line we're going to have some big challenges. This is not going to happen overnight defensively. We just gotta stay the course and get better. Keep working on it."

The Pacers finished 29th in the NBA in points allowed last season and hoped to see some improvement on that end. They haven't seen it so far in preseason.

Aaron Nesmith appears to have diversified his offensive game

Aaron Nesmith won a starting job last season largely because of defense, giving the Pacers necessary matchup versatility at power forward. He averaged 10.1 points per game with more than half of his attempts coming from beyond the 3-point arc where he was extremely streaky and a lot of his 2-point buckets coming off cuts, transition and straight line drives.

Of course, Nesmith has a past history of being a multi-faceted scorer as he averaged 23.0 points per game in his second and final season at Vanderbilt, so playing with the ball in his hand and attacking off the bounce isn't something foreign to him. He showed Tuesday that he still has some of that in him with 11 first-half points on 4 of 5 shooting. He knocked down one 3-pointer and got the other three buckets going to the basket off the bounce. Two of them were finishes at the rim, one switching hands to get through contact, and the other was a pull-up jumper in the lane. He kept going in the second half and led the Pacers with 18 points on 7 of 9 shooting

That's relevant in Nesmith's hopes for playing time, because Pacers coach Rick Carlisle started Bruce Brown, Bennedict Mathurin and Obi Toppin at shooting guard, small forward and power forward in the first two games of the preseason and there's a good chance they'll be in the starting five when the game begins. Nesmith will have to fight off at least Jordan Nwora and possibly Ben Sheppard for a wing position on the second unit and it will be helpful if he can not just play defense but also score going to the rim against a set defense in the half court. The Pacers already trust that he can guard some of the best players in the NBA, but he'll have a much more solidified role in their future if he can also reliably score.

"Aaron knows who he is," Carlisle said. "He knows how he fits into what we're doing. He plays hard, he's physical, and he did a lot of good things tonight."

Ben Sheppard keeps hitting 3s

Rookie Ben Sheppard has a tough path to playing time with established wings Nesmith, Brown, Mathurin and Buddy Hield in his way and he could be dealing with even more if Andrew Nembhard has to play some shooting guard to get T.J. McConnell on the floor. It wouldn't be much of a surprise if Sheppard doesn't get major minutes as a rookie.

However in preseason he certainly isn't backing down, and he's been arguably the Pacers' most effective 3-point shooter.

The Pacers finished sixth in the NBA in 3-pointers last season and 11th in 3-point percentage, but they haven't shot it particularly well early in the preseason. They made just 13 of 53 3-point attempts Sunday against Memphis and they made just 10 of 42 on Tuesday. Sheppard, however, hasn't had a problem knocking them down.

He hit three 3-pointers in the third quarter Sunday before cooling down to finish 3 of 10 from beyond the arc, but he finished with 15 points in that game. Tuesday, he hit 3 of 5 first-half attempts before finishing 3 of 7 from beyond the arc and 4 of 9 from the field for 11 points. He also added four assists and four rebounds and a block, showing he can make plays on both ends.

Sheppard might still have a tough path to playing time for as well as he's playing, but over the course of an NBA season there will almost certainly still be times when the Pacers will need to put him on the floor. Sheppard is earning the Pacers' coaching staff's trust for those moments.

Jalen Smith effective in post

Jalen Smith didn't see any minutes in the first half Sunday or Tuesday, but when he has been on the floor he's been effective, and he was especially effective when he got the ball in the post in Tuesday's game.

Smith scored 11 points on 5 of 5 shooting and grabbed six rebounds in just 12 minutes and 26 seconds, all of that in the second half. In early minutes so far, he's shown comfort both when catching the ball on the low block and attacking smaller defenders, and also driving the ball from the perimeter. He had nine points and eight rebounds Sunday, making a solid case for himself in the battle for the backup center job with Daniel Theis and Isaiah Jackson.

"Jalen Smith is playing like a guy who knows who he is and what his strengths and weaknesses are and how he fits into the system," Carlisle said. "I was impressed with him."

Pacers stats

INDIANA (103): Mathurin 4-10 5-5 14, Toppin 3-7 1-2 8, Theis 0-3 2-2 2, B.Brown 3-9 0-0 6, McConnell 3-7 1-2 7, Jackson 1-3 1-2 3, Nwora 2-5 1-1 6, Tshiebwe 0-0 2-2 2, Walker 2-10 2-4 7, Smith 5-5 0-0 11, Nesmith 7-9 3-3 18, Hield 2-10 1-2 6, K.Brown 0-2 0-0 0, Sheppard 4-9 0-1 11, Wong 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 37-91 19-26 103.

HOUSTON (122): Brooks 0-0 0-0 0, Smith Jr. 4-8 5-5 14, Sengun 4-8 6-10 15, Ja.Green 5-12 1-5 11, VanVleet 3-11 2-2 10, Days 1-2 0-0 3, Eason 5-6 1-1 11, Mayer 1-1 0-0 3, Samuels 2-3 2-2 6, Tate 3-4 3-5 9, Whitmore 6-10 0-0 15, Hinton 0-2 0-0 0, Thompson 1-9 5-6 7, Landale 1-3 2-2 4, Holiday 1-4 0-0 2, Hudgins 1-2 0-0 3, Williams 4-5 1-1 9. Totals 42-90 28-39 122.

IND 31 24 25 23 — 103

HOU 29 31 26 36 — 122

3-Point Goals—Indiana 10-42 (Sheppard 3-7, Smith 1-1, Mathurin 1-3, Nesmith 1-3, Nwora 1-3, Toppin 1-4, Hield 1-6, Walker 1-6, Wong 0-1, K.Brown 0-2, McConnell 0-2, B.Brown 0-4), Houston 10-25 (Whitmore 3-4, VanVleet 2-6, Mayer 1-1, Sengun 1-1, Smith Jr. 1-1, Days 1-2, Hudgins 1-2, Hinton 0-1, Holiday 0-1, Thompson 0-2, Ja.Green 0-4). Fouled Out_None. Rebounds_Indiana 46 (Smith, Toppin 6), Houston 56 (Thompson 9). Assists_Indiana 26 (Hield 9), Houston 22 (Sengun, VanVleet 4). Total Fouls_Indiana 31, Houston 23. A_12,680 (18,500)

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Pacers vs. Rockets: Pacers lose second preseason game