Not many people would have felt the Indiana Pacers were the best team in the NBA when the postseason began five weeks ago.
It’s starting to feel a little bit different with the club just six victories away from its first NBA title.
The Oklahoma City Thunder are the best team still playing basketball, but the Pacers now might be the most likely team to win the NBA Finals.
The Pacers seem to have that aura — not to mention the much-needed playoff magic. They are a squad filled with team players, and anybody can be their brightest star on any given night.
Just look at the first two games of the Eastern Conference finals against the host New York Knicks.
The Pacers should have been ready to wave the white flag in Game 1 when they trailed by 14 with under three minutes to play. Instead, they played like they were an NCAA Tournament team facing elimination.
Indiana famously rallied to force overtime on Tyrese Haliburton’s shot that bounced high off the rim before dropping through the net.
Indiana ended up winning 138–135 in OT with Haliburton (31 points) and Aaron Nesmith (30) being the co-stars. Nesmith made Stephen Curry blush a little by making 8 of 9 from 3-point range.
Then there was a different star in Game 2, when Pascal Siakam took over with a career-best playoff high of 39 points while hitting 15 of 23 shots. The Pacers also fended off a late New York charge to prevail 114–109.
Indiana surprised the Knicks with Siakam scoring 16 points in the opening quarter. But the fact New York didn’t make any effective adjustment over the following three quarters isn’t a bright moment in Tom Thibodeau’s coaching career.
Karl-Anthony Towns had to spend a lot of time on the bench after repeatedly showing he couldn’t slow Siakam.
Game 3 is Sunday night in Indianapolis, and the Pacers might again be motoring just hours after the famed Indianapolis 500.
But the biggest form of curiosity might be this: Who will be the Game 3 star for Indiana?
Perhaps Pacers coach Rick Carlisle was staying up late drawing plays for Myles Turner.
Turner has scored 20 or more points four times in the postseason but hasn’t had that big explosive effort — you know, like Nesmith in Game 1 and Siakam in Game 2.
Haliburton’s 31-point outing was his second of the postseason. He also hit that mark in the closeout victory over the top-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers in the conference semifinals.
Haliburton’s biggest mistake of the postseason was pulling out the infamous Reggie Miller choke sign from 1994, when the Pacers and Knicks played in an emotionally charged Eastern Conference finals won by New York. The gesture seemed extra foolish when it wasn’t a game-winning 3-pointer after all — because his toes were on the line.
But is there any other player you’d want running your team this postseason? Certainly not.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is the deserving NBA MVP of the Thunder, and Jalen Brunson of the Knicks is carrying his team on his back.
But Haliburton’s all-in, team-first style sets the tone for why Indiana is so unselfish and playing at a higher level in the postseason.
And if the Pacers win Sunday night and take a 3–0 lead, you can start preparing the Knicks’ obituary — because Carlisle surely won’t be outcoached in four consecutive games.
Yeah, it’s time to assert that the Indiana Pacers are the most likely team to win it all.
