The synergy and balance for these Pacers is incredibly uncommon in today’s NBA. It’s their style of play that has made them so dangerous in the postseason. They might not be a super team but they are a super team.
The Indiana Pacers get their shot at redemption in the Eastern Conference Finals starting tomorrow night in Madison Square Garden when they face off against the New York Knicks. It’s been an improbable run for both teams and now one run will continue to the NBA Finals. For the Pacers, they’re used to doing things differently than most teams in the league.
“We’re different from every other team in the NBA,” Tyrese Haliburton said last week of the Pacers’ unique style of play. “We don’t just have one guy who scores all the points, I think we defeat teams in different ways.”
The balanced scoring attack of the Pacers in these playoffs hasn’t been matched in nearly 40 years. Every starter is averaging at least 14 points per game which hasn’t been done since the Boston Celtics made the finals in 1986-87.
Via Tom Haberstroh and Dan Devine’s Yahoo! Sports show The Big Number (Highly recommend this episode)
Fittingly, Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle credits his time on both of those Celtics rosters in 1986 and 1987 as the reason for his belief in the team’s random, flow style of offense that was historically great last season and has made consecutive trips to the conference finals.
“Playing for the Boston Celtics in the 80s, that was the big thing for me,” Carlisle said of the team’s offensive philosophies. “… We talked about playing a playoff style and part of that is playing a random, unpredictable game or a flow game as a lot of people have called it over the years. Because running plays in that kind of situation with so much scouting and everything else, pressure, intensity, and time between games, it just doesn’t work.”
The Pacers offense certainly does work with starters shooting splits looking like this:
Pascal Siakam: 18.8 points on 54.7/44.1/65.6
Tyrese Haliburton: 17.5 points on 47.4/33.8/79.4
Myles Turner: 16.5 points on 50.9/45/80.4
Andrew Nembhard: 14.6 points on 50.5/50/87.5
Aaron Nesmith: 14.6 points on 52.0/48.2/86.7
Not only is every starter averaging between 14 and 19 points per game, but they’ve been insanely efficient, especially Aaron Nesmith, Andrew Nembhard, and Myles Turner.
“We’re the kind of team that needs a lot of heroes,” Carlisle said after Game 4 against the Milwaukee Bucks. “That’s the way we’re built. We’re built on depth. We’re built on camaraderie, a connected spirit.”
The Pacers collection of heroes don’t reflect a superteam like the Warriors with Kevin Durant, the Avengers, or the Traveling Wilburys. It’s more like the Guardians of the Galaxy, a bunch of outcasts and misfits with chips on their shoulder that have come together to wreak havoc on the NBA’s heavy hitters to the tune of going 42-16 in their last 58 games. Could I have been more timely and gone with the Thunderbolts? Perhaps, but I haven’t seen it yet and the starters slide nicely into these roles.
The squad. Available here.
Rocket Raccoon: Andrew Nembhard, the overlooked second-round pick, that’s been the ultimate playoff riser. The perfect backcourt pairing for Haliburton who guards the point of attack with the toughest opposing playmaker every night while providing invaluable secondary playmaking for the Pacers as he led the team in assists in the second round. A wide array of weapons like he forceful shoulder bump drives that send mammoths like Brook Lopez flying out of the way and unique inventions to the game with the way he can pull the chair on opposing drivers looking for contact as he fooled Ty Jerome so often that he was basically unplayable by the end of the series. And he’s been as deadly as a shooter as the anthropomorphic racoon.
Groot: Myles Turner, the living trade rumor that always grows back into a fixture of the Indiana Pacers. He’s lived through every era of the Pacers for a decade. The end of Paul George. The meteoric rise and fall of Victor Oladipo. He’s survived the Turbonis era, too many trade rumors to count, and an attempt to sign his replacement with him still on the roster. He’s still here.
I felt motivated after reading Myles Turner’s Players’ Tribune piece.
Here’s just over 2000 words on Turner’s journey through the eyes of a fan and how his development and growth reflects on the Indians Pacers as a whole.
Hope you can check it out https://t.co/ttV2Zd3HLB
— The House that Kami Built (@KamitronPTW) May 9, 2025
None of it has stopped Turner from growing into the immensely important Pacers legend and fan favorite that he’s become with his rim protection leading the league in the playoffs with 2.5 blocks per game and his long-range attacks from deep so crucial as a center to stretch the opposing defense and create space like Groot stretching his branches to clear a path for his team.
Drax: Aaron Nesmith, the piece of string and paper clip thrown away by his former team, who always goes harder than anyone on both ends of the floor, eager to enact his revenge on those wronged him. Whether it’s his amazing putback dunk on a missed free throw in the Game 2 miracle against Cleveland, a developing off the bounce game attacking closeouts that can end with pull-up mid-range attempts or baskets at the rim, you can count on Nesmith as a guy to go to war with. He’s always ready to attack.
“I think every player in the NBA wants to go to battle with a guy like Aaron Nesmith,” Haliburton said of his fellow 2020 lottery pick. “He’s just unbelievable with his work ethic, how hard he plays, and he’s a big part of what we do.” Like Drax he’ll take everything to its literal extreme—including that he agrees that he’d die for the game of basketball.
Gamora: Pascal Siakam, the beloved champion with another organization but eventually found a new home in Indiana. He’s the guy that’s been there before and knows what he’s doing in these moments. The calm, steady, consistent presence that can always get a bucket when needed while providing value on both ends of the floor. His presence and pedigree gives the team legitimacy and a reason to be feared. Like Gamora, he can be a buzzkill but a necessary one for the Pacers to achieve its end goal. “I can sometimes sound like I’m trying to kill the party type of thing where everybody wants to get excited and I’m just like ‘Man, I want more,’ Siakam said of the team needing to be greedy after getting to the conference finals for the second straight season. “That’s the feeling that I have and I just want to continue to get that to my teammates and make sure we all have that mindset of wanting more.”
Star-Lord: Tyrese Haliburton, voted most overrated, an underestimated, overlooked prospect his entire life that was quickly adopted by the Indiana Pacers after his parent organization traded him away. Haliburton’s the offensive engine, the piece that makes everything else come together.
He’s piling up clutch moments in the playoffs like he’s Reggie Miller incarnate with two 8 points, 9 seconds-esque miracle comebacks in the same postseason that he finished off with game winners against both the Milwaukee Bucks in Game 5 to close out the first round with a drive by Giannis Antetokounmpo for a layup, and in Game 2 against the Cleveland Cavaliers with an offensive rebound off of his own missed free throw that he turned into a stepback triple with one second remaining. Like Peter Quill, his dad can also be a little misguided at times. I probably shouldn’t compare John Haliburton’s foolish trash talk to Giannis to Ego murdering a bunch of his own children … Let’s go with this instead, like Star Lord, Haliburton also receives a heavy amount of disrespect with those that are clearly unfamiliar with their game like Wally Szczerbiak, Stephen A. Smith, Lou Williams, Kendrick Perkins or just about any other national media member that Roy Hibbert would have choice words for.
Much like the Guardians, the depth of this roster goes beyond the starting five with a large cast of characters available on the bench with Bennedict Mathurin averaging over 10 points per game in the playoffs, T.J. McConnell always a pest and capable of taking a game over for stretches off the bench while inspiring the crowd, Obi Toppin whose high-flying dunks, outside shooting, and transition abilities are unmatched, Thomas Bryant bringing infectious energy, Ben Sheppard with shooting and point of attack defense, and Jarace Walker the big-bodied wing providing elite pickpocket hands, with flashes of passing skill, and a surprisingly consistent jumper. The Pacers have 11 guys that may come into play in this series against the Knicks, who basically play 7 with all receiving heavy minutes.
This cast of heroes will be looking to wear down New York and advance to the NBA Finals for the second time in the team’s history. Their quest for a championship continues on Wednesday.
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