The Indiana Pacers have just punched their ticket to the Eastern Conference Finals for the second consecutive year. Many claimed last season’s success was a fluke due to the opposing teams’ injuries. With the Pacers returning to the ECF this year, it is time to ask if Indiana is getting lucky or if they are the real deal.
After trading Demantas Sabonis to the Sacramento Kings for Tyrese Haliburton, among other players, no one expected the Indiana Pacers to do much in the postseason. Their regular season was not worthy of much praise, and they were a young team with little to no playoff experience. As the sixth seed, fans were looking forward to a first-round exit.
To everyone’s surprise, Indiana would make the ECF. There is no denying that injuries on opposing teams contributed to the Pacers’ success in the 2024 playoffs. This should not have diminished their accomplishment, however. Teams should find ways to win with injuries, especially in the playoffs.
If Indiana was a fraudulent team, as many wrote them off to be, then opposing teams should have been able to find a way to beat them, with or without their stars. The truth is the Bucks and Knicks were still good teams, even with their injuries. The Pacers should have been given credit for defeating these teams in six and seven games, respectively.
When Indiana was eventually swept in the ECF by the Celtics, everyone doubled down on calling the Pacers’ playoff run a fluke. Although the series ended 4-0, individual game scores told a different story. The average margin of victory for Boston was just shy of seven points, with three games being decided by five or less points.
For a young Indiana Pacers team to keep games within a couple of possessions with the eventual league champions, that garners some respect. Fans, especially the ones who had their team beaten by the Pacers, instead called the Blue and Gold frauds, quickly dismissing them.
There are many similarities between the Indiana Pacers playoff runs this year and last year. Most notably, the Bucks were the first-round matchup again, and both Milwaukee and the Cavaliers had injuries taking out key players. This only strengthened the narrative that the Pacers are only winning because of injuries.
The main reason for so many people to claim this is that they do not watch the Pacers in the regular season. Fans see the Pacers beat up on injured teams in the postseason and think Indiana is not capable of beating good teams when they are healthy.
If spectators kept up with Indiana outside of the playoffs, then they would understand that the Pacers are a solid team that has been winning all season long.
In fact, from January 1st to the end of the regular season, the Pacers held the fourth-best record in the entire league. The only teams that had a better record? The Thunder, Celtics, and Cavaliers.
It is hard to make an argument that a regular-season record of that stature is fraudulent. The truth is the Indiana Pacers are a legitimate team that does not get the respect they deserve, even after beating the top-seeded Cavs.
Yet, some fans are still claiming the only reason Indiana has had success is that teams are not at full capacity. It is only a matter of time and wins before the Pacers get their flowers.
For the average fan, it is clear that the Pacers’ making back-to-back ECFs is not enough. Indiana needs to beat fully healthy, legitimate title contenders to be taken seriously. Lucky for them, an opportunity to put the frontrunning accusations away lies ahead.
The Knicks are currently leading the Celtics 3-2 in their conference semifinal series. Regrettably, with Jayson Tatum rupturing his Achilles, Boston’s chances of advancing to the ECF have reduced severely.
Ideally, the Pacers, being healthy themselves, would have had an ECF rematch with a healthy Boston Celtics team. With that series, regardless of the outcome, there would be no more injury excuses or narratives to excuse either team’s success.
The next best matchup for the Pacers to prove their legitimacy is against the Knicks. These two teams met in the second round last season. Even though the Pacers won Game 7 at Madison Square Garden, fans swore injuries were the reason the Knicks lost.
The way things are shaping up, New York should meet Indiana for a 2000s ECF rematch. Should the Pacers win, fans will have no choice but to admit what Pacers fans have known all along, that they are legitimate title contenders.
Since last season, it has been clear that the Pacers have been building on something special. With Haliburton emerging as a star point guard and Indiana winning with team basketball, the league may be ready to accept them as a top team. A victorious series against the healthy Knicks would be the final piece to put all the noise to rest.
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