The Indiana Pacers became the first NBA team officially eliminated from postseason contention after losing to Sacramento on Tuesday while Charlotte defeated Portland, Tony East of Circle City Spin reports.
Indiana has now dropped 10 consecutive games and owns the league’s worst record at 15-50. With Charlotte holding the No. 10 seed in the East at 33-33 and only 17 games left on Indiana’s schedule, the Pacers cannot close the 17.5-game gap.
As Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star notes, Indiana once led Sacramento by 20 points with 4:58 remaining in the third quarter before the game slipped away.
The loss ensures the Pacers will miss the playoffs, which has happened only 10 times for the franchise in the past 37 seasons.
“Crazy game,” coach Rick Carlisle said. “End of the third quarter obviously was a big problem for us and their bench just played an unbelievable last 15 minutes of the game. Just tremendous. So you gotta give them a lot of credit.
“Their shot-making and aggression – all that – was big-time. We had some pretty good looks. They didn’t go in. That was disappointing. We did an awful lot of good things in the first two-and-a-half quarters, but unfortunately the last 18 minutes count.”
Dopirak adds that injuries have plagued Indiana throughout the season.
If the Pacers finish with a bottom-three record, they would have a 52.1% chance at a top-four pick in the draft and a 14.0% chance at the No. 1 selection – notable because the first-round pick they traded to the Clippers in the Ivica Zubac deal is protected if it lands in the top four (and also 10–30 protected).
The Pacers became the first team this season to be eliminated from playoff contention after losing on Tuesday. Story: https://t.co/IMrHNRg3N1
— Hoops Rumors (@HoopsRumors) March 12, 2026
