Pacers sink further into gap year; Celtics aren't taking one

BOSTON -- When times are good -- or anywhere near close to good -- coaches are generally hesitant to note positives in defeat and tend to begin any sentence that acknowledges positives in defeat with the phrase, 'We're not into moral victories, but..." Rick Carlisle has generally taken that approach and did consistently throughout the last two seasons when the Pacers made their playoff runs to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2023-24 and the NBA Finals in 2024-25. So it speaks to the bleakness of the injury-depleted Pacers' moment that he was, in fact, making a point to explicitly note small victories after Indiana blew a 20-point lead with a brutal second half in a 103-95 loss to the...