INDIANAPOLIS -- Tuesday's 119-80 obliteration of the Charlotte Hornets puts the Indiana Pacers at 2-1 out of the All-Star break, but this still doesn't make up for what ails them in the bigger picture.

Since Jan. 24, they'd allowed every opponent except the New York Knicks to break 100 points.

The defensive identity of a Nate McMillan-coached team has been on hiatus, something the Pacers can't afford if they hope to move into the top four seeds.

Box score: Pacers 119, Hornets 80

Big loss:Oladipo understands the frustration of Lamb's season-ending injury

"I didn't see the Toronto game coming," McMillan said of that 46-point loss Sunday, the franchise's worst since 1987. "I really felt that we were going to go up there and win that game. I felt we could beat that team but they totally smacked us."

Going into Tuesday's game, the Pacers' defensive rating -- points allowed per 100 possessions -- was 111.1 and they were allowing 17.3 fast-break points.

Those numbers will improve after backhanding Charlotte (19-38) with 13 fast-break points allowed, but performances like this from serious contenders against teams playing for the lottery should be expected post-All-Star break.

The Pacers (34-24) have a lot of work to do to make up for what has happened. The Hornets were coming off a 29-point loss.

"Anytime you lose like that, you have to be able to bounce back somehow, some way," center Myles Turner said. "This is a great bounce-back game for us. Hopefully get us back on our feet, get some good momentum going."

Last season, with Thaddeus Young (and without Victor Oladipo for 46 games), the Pacers were third in defensive rating at 106.0 points allowed.

While Turner has sacrificed his offensive game for the team, the Pacers still lack someone such as Young next to him.

Young would give up his body to draw offensive fouls and identify a mismatch, break containment and help immediately to prevent an easy basket.

In just eight games played, Oladipo leads the Pacers with charges drawn, which is damning evidence regarding help defensive rotations either being late or non-existent.

This is a team still trying to figure out an identity and sticking with it.

"We know who we want to be," Justin Holiday said. "We're not doing it on a consistent basis. One, a team that's going to stop you defensively. There are times we don't do that, come out and play defense as a team. Offensively, use all of our numbers. We've got so many players who can play. Playing free, playing together, moving that ball."

Oladipo missed his second game in a row with a sore lower back. Jeremy Lamb, who started for him until shortly after his Jan. 29 return, is out of the season with a torn left knee ligament and thigh fracture.

McMillan shook up his rotations and may have given a window into how the Pacers will proceed with the back-up power forward spot.

Standouts: Domantas Sabonis (21 points, 15 rebounds, 9 assists), T.J. Warren (19 points), Justin Holiday (16 points), Malcolm Brogdon (15 points, 7 assists, 6 rebounds), Turner (6 points, 10 rebounds, 8 blocks) and Doug McDermott (10 points) carried Indiana. Only Miles Bridges (17 points, all in first half) was in double figures until Caleb Martin (11 points) had a bucket in garbage time for Charlotte.

Xs and Os: Sabonis made open shots early as Cody Zeller (9 points) sat back in the paint. When the Hornets sent an extra defender to him on post-ups, he found the open shooters. Aaron Holiday (9 points), making his second start in a row with Oladipo out, knocked down the kind of open 3 he couldn't make Sunday in the blowout loss. He only took 3 shots in the first half but making 2 of them put the defense on notice. If Charlotte loaded to Sabonis on a post-up or cut off Warren curling into the lane, Holiday was capable. On defense, the Pacers were connected like they've rarely been as of late. There weren't a flurry of botched rotations or allowing the Hornets to run their sets. Guard Terry Rozier (5 points) shot 2-for-13 as he was hotly pursued by Aaron Holiday. Backcourt mate Malik Monk (8 points) shot 4-for-13. Backup Cody Martin (9 points) went 3-for-12. "From the first possession, we just made them feel us," Sabonis said. "We were on every catch pursuing them and that kind of set the tone for everybody else then the second unit followed. It just went smoothly."

Lineup shifts: JaKarr Sampson (10 points) found himself in the rotation after having played just once since Feb. 3. Those were garbage minutes in Toronto. Sampson entered late in the first quarter with Goga Bitadze (5 points), who sabotaged his early playing time with three fouls in 4 minutes. Sampson sparked the Pacers with a breakaway dunk and another in the half court. McMillan typically splits his starting bigs, Turner and Sabonis, allowing the latter to run with the second unit. To start the second quarter, however, Indiana had T.J. McConnell (6 assists), Justin Holiday at the 2, McDermott at 3 with Sampson as the 4 next to Bitadze. That kept Holiday, who has played a lot of backup 4 despite being woefully undersized, in his natural position. "I decided to go big with that second unit," McMillan said.