With three starters out, Pacers get hammered by Lauri Markkanen, Jazz in Utah

SALT LAKE CITY -- With Tyrese Haliburton still out and two other starters missing with shorter-term injuries, the Pacers ran into a buzzsaw in Utah and were blown out 132-105 by the streaking Jazz.

The Pacers have lost two straight after winning nine of their previous 10 games. They fall to 23-17, which puts them in a seventh-place tie with the Knicks in the Eastern Conference. The Jazz have won six straight and improved to 22-20.

Here are four observations.

The Pacers didn't have an answer for Lauri Markkanen

Guarding big, multi-talented power forwards with the ability to score inside and outside is a problem for the Pacers on their good days, as Milwaukee's Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Lakers' LeBron James, Minnesota's Karl Anthony Towns, Boston's Jayson Tatum and Orlando's Paolo Banchero have all proven at some point or another this season. So 7-footer Lauri Markkanen, the reigning Western Conference Player of the Week who Pacers coach Rick Carlisle compared favorably in his pre-game press conference to Dirk Nowitzki, was always going to be a problem for the Pacers even if they arrived in Salt Lake City at full strength.

They didn't and were playing without two of their best defenders in Bruce Brown and Aaron Nesmith, with Nesmith being the man who at least tends to get in the way of such players. So perhaps not surprisingly, the Pacers didn't have a defensive option to stop him. Point guard Andrew Nembhard, who at 6-5, 195 pounds was giving up 7 inches and 45 pounds, started on him and had a hard time contesting his shots. Obi Toppin, Myles Turner and others tried but ultimately failed, as Markkanen scored 32 points on 10 of 15 shooting, including 2 of 4 from 3-point range. He also hit all 10 of his free throws and grabbed 10 rebounds.

"We put everybody we could put on him," guard Buddy Hield said. "I don't know how much Aaron or Bruce would have done differently. He's a tough cover in the league. He's an All-Star player. He's one of those guys, one of those one-on-ones who can score at will. Sometimes you just have to tip your cap."

The Jazz also got 30 points from guard Collin Sexton and turned the game into a laugher by the third period. The Jazz shot 55.6% from the floor, 11 of 25 from 3-point range and 31 of 35 at the line to post 1.30 points per possession while the Pacers made just 40% of their shots and posted 1.03 per possession.

Though the Pacers' personnel situation made everything more difficult, Pacers coach Rick Carlisle was still displeased with the defensive effort. It was the highest scoring figure the Pacers have allowed since switching up their starting lineup on Dec. 26, the highest field goal percentage allowed and the highest efficiency figure they allowed.

"We did not have the defensive mindset we needed to have at the beginning of the game," Carlisle said. "Their guards bullied us into the paint, scored repeatedly. We did a lot of substituting and they just got going and it was hard to stop their entire team. Starting off games, I don't care if we're back to back, I don't care if it's altitude or any of that stuff. We just have to have the right mindset, the right competitive attitude. We didn't have it at the beginning of the game and it carried through."

Carlisle continued, saying the injuries shouldn't serve as an excuse.

"Those other guys gotta defend better," Carlisle said. "I'm no gonna name names, but it was ugly. It was ugly. It wasn't what we're building and trying to do. It was disappointing. I've been around this league 40 years, I understand about off nights and all that. But when it clearly is more about the offense than the defense and the defense is the thing that you're really on, that's not a good thing."

Myles Turner neutralized by foul trouble

A big reason why the Pacers were able to blow out Utah at home in November, aside from the fact that they were at full strength with Haliburton, Brown and Nesmith, was an excellent performance by Turner. Turner played under 23 minutes in that game but scored 22 points on 8 of 12 shooting, taking advantage of a mismatch at center.

On Monday night he had no such luck, as a tight whistle kept him out of action most of the evening. Turner committed three first-half fouls and was hit with two more in the first 1:03 in the second half and left with five fouls in just 17 minutes of action. He still scored 12 points to extend his streak of double-digit scoring performances to 16 games, but the score got out of hand not long after he checked out and he didn't return to the game. He finished with 12 points on 4 of 8 shooting and four rebounds.

The Pacers' other centers also had foul trouble. Jalen Smith committed five in 19:25 and Isaiah Jackson had four in just 7:40. With the score out of hand in the fourth quarter, the Pacers put rookie two-way player Oscar Tshiebwe in at the 5.

Pacers have to dig deep on bench to get by

The Pacers' depth is their strength, but it was more than tested on Monday night with Nesmith and Brown out and All-Star point guard Tyrese Haliburton already out with a strained left hamstring that will keep him on the shelf for at least the rest of this road trip.

Missing three starters forced them to promote three players who were part of their second unit not long ago. That's not a huge issue considering point guard Andrew Nembhard and wings Bennedict Mathurin and Buddy Hield all have plenty of starting experience. Hield scored 14 points on 5 of 8 shooting with three 3-pointers on 5 attempts, scoring 11 of the Pacers' first 19 points. Mathurin scored 11 before leaving in the third quarter with a sprained left ankle.

Pacers news:Pacers' Bennedict Mathurin leaves games with sprained ankle

However, the players who had to take their place on the second unit don't have as much, and they ended up getting the bulk of the minutes once the game got out of hand.

Pacers rookies Ben Sheppard and Jarace Walker both played extended and important minutes as did forward Jordan Nwora, whose minutes have been very limited in his second season with the team. In the fourth quarter with the game all but decided, they gave work to two-way players Oscar Tshiebwe and Kendall Brown, who made the trip with the Pacers short-handed. Each of the Pacers' five starters shot better than 50% from the floor, but the bench was considerably worse and the Pacers finished at 40.0% from the floor. Walker was 3 of 11 from the floor, Sheppard was 1 of 7, Nwora was 3 of 10. Guard T.J. McConnell scored eight points on 3 of 6 shooting, but forward Obi Toppin scored just two points on 1 of 3 shooting and Jackson was 0 of 2 from the field for zero points.

Carlisle said he was actually pleased with the hustle of the rookies, but noticed that they hit a wall late in the fourth quarter playing more minutes than they usually do and doing so in high altitude.

"I liked how all of them competed for the most part," Carlisle said. "Again, except the last two or three minutes. They just let go of the rope because, I'm gonna say it's probably fatigue, and Utah had some fresh guys in there. That's just the way that goes. The future is very bright. I like all these guys."

The Jazz, meanwhile, were at full strength and it showed. Their re-shuffling of their first and second units has been a big part of their recent resurgence, and the firepower they were able to bring off the bench helped the Jazz put the Pacers away. Utah scored 48 bench points to the Pacers' 42 with Keyonte George leading the way with 19 points and guard Jordan Clarkson adding 16.

"They're doing it in a similar way that we're doing it," Carlisle said. "Give Will a lot of credit for how they re-arranged things. ... The guys that are the fighters are getting rewarded. That's what we have to be about as well."

Jarace Walker has ups and downs in most extended action

The combination of a shrunken roster and a blowout meant lottery pick Jarace Walker got his longest outsing so far as a Pacer with 26 minutes. He had some good moments and bad, showing both his promise and the extent to which he's still very much figuring out how to function at the NBA level.

Walker scored eight points on 3 of 11 shooting, knocking down a pair of 3-pointers and finishing a fast-break dunk to get his buckets. He dished out four assists against one turnover and had four steals as well as four rebounds and two blocks. He also had some moments, especially when he was playing with veterans, when he seemed out of place, but it was a productive evening for a blowout.

"Jarace has some special abilities," Carlisle said. "He showed a lot of those tonight, his vision, his play-making. He's been shooting the ball well in the G-League. He was out for a couple days with an illness and joined us late on the trip, so all that considered, I thought he did a good job."