Indiana had a starting five on Monday night. And a reserve.
It was nearly enough.
The Pacers had 11 players, representing about 93% of their payroll, sidelined because of injuries and other reasons for their game against the Atlanta Hawks — and almost won anyway. With only six players, Indiana cut a 15-point second-half deficit to two in the final minutes before falling 108-104.
All six Indiana players logged between 34 and 45 minutes.
“These guys all played too many minutes,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said after the game in Indianapolis. “But they played their hearts out. ... The guys left everything out there and our fans got their money's worth, even though we weren't able to win the game.”
Monday was the first time since Nov. 20, 2004, that the Pacers used only six players. That game against Orlando was one day after the infamous “Malice at the Palace” brawl between Indiana and Detroit, which led to multiple suspensions.
Carlisle coached that Indiana team as well — and drew comparisons between that Indiana loss to a Grant Hill-led Orlando team 22 years ago and what the Pacers nearly did against the Hawks on Monday.
“People are still talking about that game,” Carlisle said. “And they will talk about this game for a long time.”
The Pacers had nothing left at the end.
Indiana's Braden Smith grabbed a defensive rebound with about a minute left, then immediately began hopping around — while still dribbling — and grabbed at the upper part of his left calf.
“Cramp,” he mouthed toward the bench.
The Pacers took their last timeout and subbed Smith out for the final 58.7 seconds. On the continuation of that possession, Quenton Jackson tried a 3-pointer that would have given Indiana the lead — but the shot fell well short.
The Hawks got a score from Onyeka Okongwu with just over 10 seconds left, and Atlanta survived.
“It's a really good win,” Hawks coach Quin Snyder said. “We knew we were going to be in a dogfight-type game. ... Hopefully, the Pacers can get healthy.”
Carlisle went into the night thinking he’d have seven available players, calling the Indiana injury situation “a perfect storm” of bad luck. Things actually got worse shortly before game time, when Kelly Oubre Jr. was a late scratch because of a bruised knee.
With that, Indiana was down to six.
The previous low for players used in a game so far this season was eight, by Philadelphia on Oct. 25. There have been seven other instances of teams using six players over the last 15 seasons — almost all of those in meaningless contests toward the end of a season.
The last time a team used only six players in a game during the first few weeks of a season was on Nov. 24, 2009, when Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors — with some players getting cramps massaged out of their legs during timeouts — somehow beat the Dallas Mavericks 111-103.
Along with Oubre, the rundown of those missing: Tyrese Haliburton (hamstring), Pascal Siakam (rest), Johnny Furphy (knee), T.J. McConnell (hamstring), Larry Nance Jr. (illness), Andrew Nembhard (cervical), Aaron Nesmith (hamstring), Ben Sheppard (knee), Obi Toppin (lumbar sprain) and Ivica Zubac (ankle).
Some players are out for weeks; some just couldn’t go Monday, with Indiana on the second night of a back-to-back. “Injury management,” Carlisle said.
That left the Pacers with one player making more than $3 million this season — Jarace Walker. Add it all up, and Indiana had about $193 million in salary sitting and about $15 million in salary playing.
The rest of Indiana’s available players included Jackson, Jay Huff and three players on two-way deals: Smith, Jalen Slawson and Kobe Brown. Smith got the first start of his NBA career, with Walker, Slawson, Huff and Jackson joining him in the starting lineup. Brown came off the bench.
“I thought everybody did an unbelievable job,” Smith said. “It's hard. I don't think I've ever been a part of a game where six guys have dressed. For all of us to just go out there and leave it all on the court and at least just give them a game, I think it was a big deal to be able to do that. It's hard. You're exhausted for a lot of the time, so it makes it difficult mentally.”
Huff scored 22 points, Jackson had 20, Smith scored 19, Brown had 16, Walker finished with 15 and Slawson scored 12. Indiana gave itself a chance by not fouling often; the Pacers took 23 free throws (making 20) while Atlanta took only eight (making five).
“It illustrates the power of hard play and the power of hard, unselfish play and putting a real competitive spirit on a game,” Carlisle said. “I'm very happy for our fans that they got to witness this kind of competition.”
Indiana next plays on Wednesday at Memphis. The Pacers don't play Tuesday — the entire league has the day off for Election Day — and are off Thursday and Friday.
“I'm just proud of everybody and how everybody responded,” Smith said.
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