OKLAHOMA CITY – About an hour before the information was given ahead of time PacersIn a game against the Bucks in Milwaukee, Rick Carlisle gathered big men Jalen Smith and Isaya Jackson somewhere in the locker room of the Fiserv Forum in a space not open to the media and explained to them how things were about to change.
“I got them together and said, ‘You guys need to be ready,'” Carlisle said as Miles Turner returned from back spasms. Miles returned. It started. My decision on who to support will be a quick decision based on what I see and feel in the game. I’d like to be able to tell him you guys, someone will definitely be there first. But I don’t know that. “
The first two games since Turner’s return proved how dangerous the minutes can swing from game to game. Against the Bucks, Turner played 36 minutes and five seconds and scored 30 points. Smith played 10:31 of that. Jackson 1:24 and only got that time because Smith made two fouls in the first quarter.
Then it flipped on Wednesday in Oklahoma City. Turner played less than 20 minutes in the defeat of the Pacers. Jackson played 17 minutes and 23 seconds, scored 11 points and seven rebounds, and Smith did not enter the game at all. Carlisle threw 6-4, 230-pound Terry Taylor, a rarely used catcher, at center when the Pacers decided to play in 2-3 territory and got a good 16 minutes out of it. Goga Bitadze also had over six minutes in the fourth quarter when the game was already decided.
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The situation could easily swing around Friday when the Pacers play the Nuggets in Denver and do it again Saturday against the Suns in Phoenix.
There’s a rhyme and a reason for what Carlyle does, because Jackson and Smith have wildly different strengths. Smith, No. 10 selected by the Suns out of Maryland in the 2020 draft, has a bit more shooting touch around the rim and from 3-point range. Jackson has a better field goal percentage (. 556 to . 460) and a better effective field goal percentage (. 558 to . 516) but that’s only because Smith takes a 3-pointer and Jackson doesn’t. Smith is actually better inside the arc (.589 to .577.) Smith is 38-of-139 from a 3-point range (27.3%) while Jackson only took eight seconds all year and made one.
Both men are tall and athletic with Smith listed at 6-9, 215 lbs and Jackson at 6-9, 205. Smith has better rebounding numbers, averaging 6.0 per game, 10.8 per 36 minutes and 14.2 per 100 possessions while Jackson averages 4.2, 9.4 and 12.4. However, Jackson is faster, and is a better runner’s edge protector with 1.4 blocks per game to Smith’s 0.9 and 3.1 blocks per 36 minutes to Smith’s 1.6. It is a powerful dunk and can be dynamic in picking and rolling due to its wearable availability.
“It’s not like I get a hat on and pull out names or flip a coin or anything like that,” Carlisle said. “These are not easy decisions. I think the way the game is going now, it’s very dynamic and can change in a split second. You can go into a game and say one person is definitely going to play and some event happens that causes another person to get involved in the game.”
It’s a bit of an embarrassing situation, because none of the players expected to be in this situation.
Smith was acquired from the Suns this past February for Torrey Craig, and when he signed a three-year, $15.1 million contract extension this offseason, Carlisle said he was signing with the intention of being a solid forward who would play alongside Turner. It was exactly that in their first 26 games of the season until Carlisle decided in mid-December to go with smaller formations to get a better defense and shoot in the starting five, moving winger Aaron Nesmith 6-5 into a starting powerhouse and making Smith a second team center.
The flowing effect of this move was to extract Jackson out of the spin. He was the backup center and played at least 12 minutes in 23 of his first 25 games of the season, having only two DNPs in that span for injury purposes. Jackson appeared in only four of the Pacers’ first 11 games after the lineup turnaround, but they briefly sent him down to the G-League to get some work with the Fort Wayne Mad Ants.
He returned to Earth on January 6 thanks to a hand injury to Smith that sidelined him for the game and he scored 12 points to catch Carlisle’s attention. He did not appear in the next game against Charlotte, but played at least 19 minutes in each of the next three when Turner was injured and actually started ahead of Smith in two of the games.
With point guard Terese Haliburton still out with a sprained left elbow and a bruised knee bone, the Pacers could only play both men by deciding to use a 10-man rotation and play Smith and Jackson together to create a second, longer unit. Carlisle has elected not to do so yet, sticking to a nine-man rotation and a more flexible replacement pattern.
The two had every reason to expect more consistent roles this year. Both Smith, 22, and Jackson, 21, were considered promising building blocks for rebuilding the Pacers in the long run given the cost paid to acquire both of them. While their cut in minutes doesn’t necessarily change the long-term trajectory – especially if they fail to sign Turner a new contract when his current deal expires after this season – they have reason to be upset about the short-term. Change of plans. However, Carlyle said that they both handled the matter professionally and tried to do the same by maintaining frequent contact with both of them.
“These two kids are amazing kids,” said Carlyle. “They are two of the greatest guys you can ever work with. It’s a pleasure to be with them every day.”