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A year ago at this time, the Indiana Pacers were gearing up for the NBA Cup — then known as the In-Season Tournament — knockout round. Led by the impressive play of Tyrese Haliburton and a thrilling up-tempo style of basketball, the team fought their way to the tournament finals in Las Vegas. This was just the beginning of a remarkable season for the Pacers, culminating in a berth in the Eastern Conference Finals.

What a difference a year makes. Indiana went 0-4 in NBA Cup play, and has now dropped four in a row while falling to 9-14 on the season after losing back-to-back road games in Toronto and Brooklyn. After the loss in Toronto,

here is what Haliburton had to say

Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star).

“The product we’re putting on the floor right now as a group is embarrassing... Every team is playing hard right now. Every team is young and has energy. There’s no reason we shouldn’t be matching that and beyond. I just think the product that we’re putting out there on a nightly basis right now needs to be better because we work too hard. Too many people care. We have too much pride in it. The product has to be better and the effort has to be better.”

Things were not better after the loss in Brooklyn.

Via Michael Scotto of Hoopshype

"We haven’t won a road game in over a month. I think as a group, I’ve got to be better. I think it’s testing us right now. I can’t really give you a ton of positives. Maybe that’s a negative way of viewing it right now. I just feel like as a group we can get better in every aspect. The great thing is there are 82 games and we have about 60 more games to figure it out, but there’s got to be a sense of urgency. You can only say that so many times. As a group, I think we’ve got a lot of growing up to do. If we don’t do that, the league is going to (pause). There are times like right now where the league could either bury you or you can dig yourself out of a hole.”

Indiana covered up a bottom-10 defense with an elite, fast-paced offense a season ago. The defense, unsurprisingly, is still in the bottom 10, but the Pacers' offense has slowed down — 15.4% of their offensive possessions start in transition, 16th in the league, and down from a season ago when they were seventh in the league (Indiana is averaging a couple of fewer possessions a game and they pace has fallen from second in the league last year to 8th this season).

Part of that falls on Haliburton, who averaged 20.1 points and 10.9 assists a game last season with a .605 true shooting percentage. This season that has fallen off to 17.6 points and 8.4 assists with a below league average .557 true shooting percentage. Injuries have been part of the issue — Andrew Nembhard just returned to the lineup after missing a dozen games, while both backup centers Isaiah Jackson and James Wiseman are out for the season with torn Achilles.

There are no simple answers here, but the Pacers have to get their offense on track again if they are going to be a playoff threat again this season.