After beating the Cleveland Cavaliers in five games, the Indiana Pacers are on the way to their second straight Conference Finals appearance. There, with a trip to the Finals on the line, the Pacers will take on either the New York Knicks or Boston Celtics, both of whom they played in the playoffs last season.
With two Conference Finals appearances in a row, the Pacers, at this point, are "regulars." They have a young roster, with Pascal Siakam, James Johnson, and TJ McConnell being the only players over 30 years old.
With a franchise player in Tyrese Haliburton bought in to the Pacers and Indiana, and the role-players embracing the system, it's very plausible that the Pacers will be contenders for the next several seasons.
Jayson Tatum's devastating injury and the Cavs' early exit should cause both teams to take a step back, and Indiana now has plenty of playoff experience. Just two seasons ago, Indiana drafted seventh overall before trading Bilal Coulibaly for Jarace Walker, and they looked destined to be regulars in the lottery.
That is, until they added Siakam and Haliburton broke out, and now they aren't concerned with the NBA Draft in the slightest.
"Watching the lottery," reflected Haliburton, "I remember being our representative at the lottery a couple of years ago and not wanting to go back. So it's special, man. This group is special. This has been built by many different moves, and adding P has been huge for us, and we just kind of went from there. But yeah, man, I don't take this for granted, it's a lot of fun, and winning is fun. So we just wanna continue to do what we're doing, and just take this a day at a time, enjoy this one tonight. But be ready for whoever's next."
Game 1 of the Conference Finals will tip off on Wednesday, May 21, although the opponent has yet to be revealed.
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