The Numbers And Details Behind The Indiana Pacers’ 2022-23 Schedule

The NBA schedule for the 2022-23 season has been released and the Indiana Pacers are ready to transition into a new era.

In the two seasons since the Pacers last playoff appearance in 2020, the team has struggled — they have posted a 59-95 record in that span. As a result, the franchise has changed directions. They sent away key veterans, such as Domantas Sabonis, Caris LeVert, and Malcolm Brogdon in recent months in order to get younger and acquire assets.

Now armed with a fresh feel and fewer expectations, Indiana will hope to set a foundation for long-term success during 2022-23. They will have 82 opportunities to do exactly that, and it all starts on October 19.

On that day, the Pacers host the Washington Wizards in Gainbridge Fieldhouse to tip off their campaign. The stadium has been going through renovations during the summer months, and many of the changes will be ready for fans on opening night. Indiana plays their first three games at home to open the season, with the second and third being against San Antonio and Detroit, respectively.

Many in and around the league shrug off the schedule — every team plays the same number of games and generally the same opponents. But there are unique properties in every team’s slate of games that makes it worth discussing. It’s part of the story that is the season.

For example, Indiana had a brutally hard schedule early in the 2021-22 campaign — it was even acknowledged by members of the organization. The Pacers got off to a 1-6 start last year and never fully recovered. The order of opponents for the blue and gold mattered. It always does.

The quality of opponents varies by team as well. It’s largely based on what division and conference a team plays in, and the Pacers are in a division with three very good teams. As a result, they have the seventh hardest schedule in the NBA this season, per Positive Residual. That strength of schedule formula uses many factors to determine the difficulty of a team’s campaign, and Indiana graded out poorly.

While Indiana has a challenging path in terms of opponent quality, geography is on their side. Located in the Midwest, the Pacers are close in distance to several other NBA cities. Thus, they travel the third fewest miles of any team this season — a number that the league has been trying to cut down for all teams.

“The estimated average miles traveled for the 2022-23 regular season has been reduced to 41,000 miles per team, a record low in the era with 30 teams and 82 games per team,” the NBA noted in a statement.

One way that the league cuts down on travel is by having a team play the same opponent in the same location with no travel in between. The Pacers will play in Brooklyn on October 29 and October 31, for example. There are three instances of this phenomenon on the Pacers schedule.

One situation that reduces travel but doesn’t fit into that box is what the Pacers will do in late November — they will play the Clippers in Los Angeles on the 27th and then the Lakers in the same arena on the 28th. Any back-to-back is challenging, but that one comes with no travel in between.

Speaking of back-to-backs, the Pacers have 14. That’s tied with several teams for the second-most in the league. It’s also the same number the blue and gold had last season, so that won’t be anything new for the team in the Circle City.

Back-to-backs are challenging from a rest perspective, and being on a rest disadvantage (having fewer days of rest heading into a game than the opponent) creates a similar obstacle. Studies have shown the positive impact that a rest advantage has on a team in a given game.

The Pacers will play seven games in the coming season with a rest advantage, only three teams have fewer. On the flip side, they will play 11 games with a rest disadvantage. The league calendar was unkind to Indiana from a rest perspective.

The longest homestand for the Indianapolis-based team is four games, which happens on two different occasions. Meanwhile, the blue and gold has two road trips that span five games or longer, including a seven game trip to the West coast that spans from November 27 to December 7. That will be a trial for the young Pacers.

Some notable individual games on Indiana’s schedule:

October 28: This is the only time of the season that the Pacers will play on national television — they take on the Wizards in Washington. The game will air on ESPN.

November 4: The Miami Heat visit the Pacers in Indianapolis. This could be the first time that Victor Oladipo plays in a game against Indiana since the Pacers traded him to Houston in January of 2021.

November 28: The Pacers take on the Lakers in Los Angeles. It’s the first time sixth overall pick Bennedict Mathurin will take on LeBron James. The rookie told the Washington Post that he’s looking forward to going against James. “He’s going to have to show me he’s better than me,” Mathurin said.

December 5: The defending champion Golden State Warriors battle the Pacers for the first time. It will take place in the Bay Area.

February 3: The Sacramento Kings visit Indiana. It may be the first time All-Star big man Domantas Sabonis plays in Indy since being dealt by the team this past February.

February 23: The Pacers host the Celtics on this day. Similar to the above point, this game will be the first time that Indiana hosts Malcolm Brogdon since trading him to Boston last month.