Indiana Pacers: 5 Things That Must Be Fixed by January

The Indiana Pacers did not have this kind of start in mind for the beginning of the season.

The Pacers are currently struggling at 10-11, with two straight losses to the Denver Nuggets and Oklahoma City Thunder.

With the absence of Danny Granger and some new faces, the Pacers seem almost lost on the court.  When they do play a stretch of good games, it quickly turns back around.

The Pacers have some things that they need to work on, and soon.  Here are five things that should be fixed by the next calender year.

5. Beat Bad Teams

Every good team is able to limit their losses to bad teams.  The Pacers are struggling to do that this year.

The Pacers have losses to teams like the Charlotte Bobcats, Toronto Raptors and Minnesota Timberwolves.  The Pacers would have been able to beat teams like these last year, but they seem to play down to their opponents this season.

If the Pacers expect to have a winning season and a spot in the playoffs, they will need to beat the bad teams.  The Pacers need to fix this soon and have a chance to do so on Wednesday against the Cleveland Cavaliers.  While this won't completely turn the Pacers around, it will be a good start.

4. Have Fewer Close Games

The Pacers have had a tough time of putting away opponents late in games.  Too many games have ended closely, and it has been frustrating for Pacers fans.

Of the 21 games the Pacers have played so far, ten have had a score differential of five points or less.  Of those ten games, the Pacers have only won five.

The Pacers need to be able to pull away in games.  The games would be a lot less stressful for fans and players alike. 

With more convincing wins, the players and coaches will be a lot more confident, and confidence can go a long way in the NBA.

3. More Scoring from Roy Hibbert

After signing Roy Hibbert to a very appealing deal, the Pacers may be beginning to feel a bit of buyer's remorse.

Hibbert has been struggling a bit this year.  While his defense has still been on par with his usual performance, his offense has been more than questionable this year.  After averaging 12.8 points per game and shooting over 49 percent last year, he is only averaging 9.8 points per game and shooting only 38 percent.

Even though Hibbert is near the top in blocks per game, the Pacers are in desperate need of another scorer.  Hibbert needs to get out of his slump if they want to make a run at the playoffs.

2. More Scoring in General

The Pacers are having a great year defensively with the third best defense in the NBA.  However, it's a problem when you can't score despite how good your defense is.

After the first 21 games, the Pacers are only averaging 90.8 points per game.  This mark is bad enough to be the absolute worst in the league.  Any time you are in last in any category, that is usually a big problem.

The Pacers need to find other scorers besides David West and Paul George.  Both are carrying the loads without the injured Granger, but can only do so much.  Players like Gerald Green and Lance Stephenson will need to step up more for this weak offense.

1. Better Play off of the Bench

The thing that is absolutely killing the Pacers this year is the poor performance off of the bench.  While it appears that they have a bit of talent on the bench, no one has stepped up to this point.

The bench is only averaging 29.8 points per game, which is 20th in the league.  What is even worse is that the bench is only shooting 40.5 percent from the field, which is the third worst mark in the league.

If the Pacers expect to make any kind of run, the bench needs to play well.  Players like Tyler Hansbrough, D.J. Augustin and Sam Young will need to be more efficient scorers.