I love this Indiana Pacers team. This is a beyond special group of players, of people, that is now one win away from an NBA Championship.
Game 7, for all the marbles, on the road going up against a team thought to be at the start of a dynasty with a chance to start their own reign instead.
It doesn’t get better than this.
Let it be known, we’re not here to participate.
Tonight, we write the ending they never saw coming.
A new champion will be crowned…let's bring that hardware home.
Narrated by Reggie Miller. pic.twitter.com/m3XoFVtRDX
— Indiana Pacers (@Pacers) June 22, 2025
“We’ve got one game. One game. Nothing that’s happened before matters, and nothing that’s going to happen after matters,” Tyrese Haliburton said after the Game 6 win. “It’s all about that one game.”
While the Pacers are wisely focused on the singular task at hand with an urgent need to stay in the moment and leave the reflecting for the off-season, the journey, all that’s happened before, is everything to the fan. A Game 7 for a chance to win an NBA Championship wouldn’t mean much without all of the joy, the heartbreak, the shocking moments, the frustration, and the memories that were created along the way.
That’s why it matters that so many former Pacers have been at Gainbridge Fieldhouse throughout this playoff run, all rooting for Indiana to accomplish the one thing they were never able to do: win an NBA title. Reggie Miller, done with his TNT duties and free to wear his former teammates’ uniforms, stand courtside with his son, and cheer as hard as anyone in the building.
Mark Jackson, Jalen Rose, Rik Smits, Dale Davis, Derrick McKey, Travis Best, Austin Croshere, and Sam Perkins all present in the fieldhouse to see if these Pacers can accomplish the ultimate goal in the same place they fell short in the 2000 NBA Finals after a long, arduous journey of their own that featured four losses in the conference finals for much of that core before finally getting that chance.
It’s why it matters that Nancy Leonard, widow of Hall-of-Famer Bobby Slick Leonard, has been there behind the Pacers bench, soaking in these moments that wouldn’t exist without her and her late husband’s efforts to save the team from folding in their early NBA days with a telethon to raise enough money to keep the Pacers alive.
on a very special episode of Pacers Weekly, Eddie White sits down with Nancy Leonard to discuss what the team playing for an NBA Championship means to her and what it would mean to her husband, Hall of Famer Bobby "Slick" Leonard 💙💛
🎧 https://t.co/qnUBZ6KbJZ pic.twitter.com/X0FbCBww18
— Indiana Pacers (@Pacers) June 21, 2025
Game 7 is a chance to rid fans of past burdens, lessen the blows of so many heartbreaks that have lingered. These final stages of the quest, this desired destination, wouldn’t hit the same without all the difficult times in the path to get here:
The Brawl that took away what was long thought to be the Pacers best chance at winning an NBA title. Ron Artest, Metta World Peace, has been desperate for this title for Indiana for years because of what happened on that infamous night in Detroit. While he eventually got to feel the thrill of a title with the Lakers, he still feels guilty that he took that chance away from the Pacers. He’s been there at the arena wearing the gold shirt, rooting for this franchise and his former coach Rick Carlisle. Stephen Jackson has been there too after he apologized to Reggie Miller for his part in the Brawl removing Miller’s last chance at a championship.
All the injuries that wiped away hope in an instant from Paul George breaking his leg, Victor Oladipo rupturing his quad, T.J. Warren becoming a star in the bubble to almost never playing for the team again because of a foot injury, Danny Granger’s knee falling apart just as the Pacers created a team that could compete against the superteam Miami Heat.
Some of those same stars that were once beloved deciding they wanted to play elsewhere, being dealt away.
All of the playoff losses to LeBron James whether in Miami or Cleveland. The uncalled goaltend in Game 5 of the first round. Roy Hibbert coming out of the game and opening up the lane in Game 1 of the conference finals.
Reggie Miller not dunking the ball and getting blocked by Tayshaun Prince in the conference finals.
Coming up short against Michael Jordan’s Bulls in Game 7.
The Larry Johnson 4-point play on the worst call in the history of the sport.
Josh McRoberts missing a 3-pointer at the end of the perfect quarter.
This current Pacers team’s journey has been condensed into such a short time period from starting what the front office thought was going to be a long rebuild with the trade for Tyrese Haliburton and the nearly total tear down of a failed collection of good but ill-fit players that never felt like it equaled the sum of its parts.
Instead that long rebuild lasted just a year and a half as the Pacers hit on transaction after transaction with each trade of a member from the previous core and Haliburton proved to be an engine and a culture all on his own that was never going to allow the Pacers to completely bottom out in a proper tank. Now the Pacers are a true unit: unequivocally more than the sum of its parts but to the extent that they are constantly doubted, constantly overlooked, constantly underrated, and forever the underdog. Even a trip to the conference finals last year was discredited as a fluke, something that only happened because of injuries to their opponents.
Tyrese Haliburton has gone from being called a fake, wannabe All Star to a frontrunner to the most overrated player in the league. He may be the most misunderstood, the most disrespected, a superstar unlike any other in the league that can be unselfish to a fault. He responded to the name calling with the greatest clutch run in the history of the sport with a game-winning or game-tying shot in the final seconds in each of the four rounds of the playoffs, collecting more iconic moments in one postseason that nearly all players have in their entire careers. Now he’s trying to add one final descriptor: Champion.
Their most consistent player Pascal Siakam acquired for Bruce Brown and three mediocre first-round picks added championship experience to the team got just four votes for third-team All-NBA despite being the team’s only All Star. Andrew Nembhard fell to the second round but is always rising in the playoffs while becoming the ultimate backcourt pairing for Haliburton with his elite defense able to take the most difficult matchups every night. Aaron Nesmith, given up on by the Boston Celtics, turned himself into a human flamethrower while doing all the dirty work on the defensive end.
TJ McConnell, undrafted in 2015, always underestimated due to his physical limitations, working harder than anyone on the floor even in the biggest stages while collecting backcourt steals to an extent never before seen in the NBA. Obi Toppin, discarded by the Knicks who were unable to find a place for him in their rotation, embodies the Pacers offensive philosophies perfectly, always injecting pace into the game, constantly making quick decisions, and being a sparkplug off the bench.
And then there’s Myles Turner. Talk about a journey, 10 years in Indiana for the center from Texas drafted in 2015 and he’s been here through it all: the end of the Paul George era, the electric Victor Oladipo season, and the Turbonis era where he grew unhappy playing out of position for years. But he was always professional, all while surviving endless trade rumors and the team attempting to sign Deandre Ayton to replace him before he ever had a chance to play with Tyrese. I want to see the Pacers overcome this final challenge for him more than anyone else because of the journey.
The journey for this team, this season, has been nothing short of remarkable. From starting the season at 10–15 with their star looking like a shell of himself and all their best defenders missing time with injuries to taking off in January with a suddenly elite two-way team amassing as many wins as anyone for the rest of the season.
After the All-Star break, something magical started happening as the Pacers became the most resilient, most stubborn squad that refused to accept defeat while pulling out wins in increasingly daunting circumstances. Down 3 with seconds left against the Milwaukee Bucks? Too easy, run the four verticals play, find Tyrese Haliburton for a 4-point play over Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Down 5 with 1:05 left in overtime against the Minnesota Timberwolves with all the starters resting? No worries. Obi Toppin will save the day with a pair of 3-pointers in the final 30 seconds including the game winner with 3.5 seconds left to cap his 34-point night. Down 7 with 1:07 left against the Dallas Mavericks, no problem just force a few turnovers, outscore them by 11 in the final minute to win by four with Andrew Nembhard’s 3 giving the Pacers the lead with 16 seconds left.
It didn’t matter who was on the floor, Indiana just found ways to win. In the final game of the regular season, the Pacers were down 20 points at the beginning of the fourth quarter and those left on the floor were essentially the Indiana Mad Ants. They fought and got it down to six with 1:01 left and you guessed it came all the way back first getting it to overtime and eventually winning in double OT with two-way players Quenton Jackson, RayJ Dennis, Enrique Freeman, along with Johnny Furphy and Tony Bradley all contributing to the victory.
Then they upped the level of difficulty in the postseason as they closed out their series against the Milwaukee Bucks despite being down by seven points with 40 seconds left in Game 5. A big 3 by Nembhard, a couple turnovers by Gary Trent Jr., and suddenly Tyrese Haliburton was driving to a wide open rim to give the Pacers a first-round victory.
Tyrese Haliburton game-winning layup on Giannis Antetokounmpo, off a turnover by Gary Trent Jr. (with replays).
Including the scuffle afterward, and all the celebrations. pic.twitter.com/TpnbfmNbsV
— MrBuckBuck (@MrBuckBuckNBA) April 30, 2025
In Round 2 against the Cavaliers, they were down by seven points again with just 48 seconds left. Well Aaron Nesmith putback dunk on a missed free throw, Donovan Mitchell offensive foul, Pascal Siakam layup, Andrew Nembhard steal, and Tyrese Haliburton gets fouled, misses a second free throw, gets his own rebound, and hits a 3-pointer with 1.1 seconds for the win to go up 2-0 on the 1-seed Cavs.
in the last 20 years, teams that trailed by 7+ in the final 48 seconds of the 4th quarter or OT are 3-1,679.
two of those are us in the last 8 days.
no panic. pic.twitter.com/KoUT38R9za
— Indiana Pacers (@Pacers) May 7, 2025
To open up the conference finals, the Pacers did it again. This time they were down 14 points with under three minutes to go. Enter Aaron Nesmith, who scored 20 points in the final five minutes of regulation while hitting 3-pointer after 3-pointer. And of course it was Tyrese Haliburton at the end with the bounce to the heavens off the back rim and back through the net to send the game to overtime where the Pacers would win it.
THE PACERS MOUNT an EPIC COMEBACK (again) to WIN GAME 1 of the ECF in OT 🔥
Down 17, 6:46 left in regulation.
Down 14, 2:40 left in regulation.
Down 9, 52 seconds left in regulation.
13 PTS in OT.
Aaron Nesmith with 6 3PM & Tyrese Haliburton with ANOTHER clutch shot 🤯 pic.twitter.com/NBWNhphPMl
— NBA (@NBA) May 22, 2025
But surely they wouldn’t do it again in the NBA Finals, against a 68-win Oklahoma City Thunder team, right? Well, we know they did. Down by 9 with three minutes to go seems like nothing for this team as the Thunder led for 47 minutes and 59.7 seconds of the game but Tyrese Haliburton hit the game winner with 0.3 seconds remaining.
So now with a chance to overcome one final deficit after being down 3-2 in the NBA Finals with a Game 7 on the road in a hostile environment, they have their shot to prove this is truly a team of destiny, that can overcome any and every challenge that stands in their way. To cement their place in history as champions for the first time since their ABA days. I can’t wait to see how they respond.
-#31-