It was a special occasion on Saturday night, as the Indiana Pacers and Denver Nuggets squared off in Mexico City. It was just the 16th regular season game for the NBA in Mexico, and was understandably met with a good bit of hype. Unfortunately for the Pacers, a poor first half proved to be too costly as the Denver Nuggets prevailed by a final score of 114-102.

Here are the main takeaways from Indy's loss against Denver.

Shooting woes continue for Indiana.

Coming into Saturday's game, the Pacers were just 24th in the league in 3-point percentage. The struggles continued in this game, as the Pacers shot just 5-for-23 from deep in the first half. They found their stroke in the second half, but still finished the game at just 31% from three. The absence of Tyrese Haliburton continues to hurt in more ways than one. His shooting will be a huge boost when he returns, but also his ability to get better looks for his teammates.

Comeback attempt falls short.

The Pacers trailed by as many as 27 points, and were down by 23 at halftime. They put together an inspired run in the second half and cut the lead to just six at one point. Ultimately, the comeback attempt fell short and the Nuggets were able to hold on. Indiana outscored Denver 37-26 in the third quarter and were just a few big shots away from taking this game down to the wire.

In the first half, Denver didn't commit a single turnover and outscored the Pacers by 14 points in the paint. Combined with the aforementioned shooting issues for Indiana in that half, you end up with a very difficult formula for success. It was good to see the Pacers bringing lots of fight in the second half (which usually just means the shots are falling,) but it wasn't enough to complete the comeback. The Pacers were led by Pascal Siakam who scored 23 points.

Better production from the five spot, and the return of McConnell.

Ivica Zubac really struggled in his return from injury in the last game. On Saturday, Zubac recorded a double-double with 10 points, 12 rebounds, to go along with five assists. Larry Nance Jr. also put together his best performance of the season, connecting on 5-of-7 from deep for 15 points. The bigs did struggle to guard Jokic, however, as is the case on most nights.

The Pacers continue to get a little healthier each day, as TJ McConnell made his first appearance of the season. He was limited to nine minutes (all in the first half), and he scored six points in those minutes. It was a welcome sight for the Pacers.

Next up: The Pacers (3-7) will play in Dallas on Monday night.