Last season, the Indiana Pacers rode their fast-paced offense to the Eastern Conference Finals. This season, with largely the same roster, they have managed to make it back to the third round, although they play a very different style.
In 2024, Indiana boasted the second-best offense and 24th-ranked defense. This season, they remained solid with the ninth-best offense, but pulled their defense above average, ranking 13th in the NBA.
With no major offseason additions or losses, their transition to a more sustainable play has all been thanks to internal improvement and development.
Before their playoff series against the New York Knicks, the Pacers broke down how they've improved.
"Repetition, experience, confidence," listed Aaron Nesmith. "I think we found a formula that works, and I think everybody just bought in and understands that it takes a lot of effort and communication to defend the way that we do, and I think we're just operating at a high level right now."
Nesmith hinting at the Pacers improving simply because they wanted to seems a bit of an oversimplification, but his head coach backed him up.
"We've made a strong commitment to it going back close to a year and a half, and it's taken time, but we've worked hard on it, and we've decided that it was something that was important," said Rick Carlisle.
Assuming Myles Turner doesn't walk in free agency, the Pacers will have a very similar roster next season as well, and they are expected to remain near the top of the Eastern Conference for the next several seasons.
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