The Indiana Pacers are on the verge of their first NBA Finals appearance since 2000 following their Game 4 Eastern Conference Finals win over the New York Knicks. After blowing a 20-point lead and scoring a postseason-low 100 points in Game 3, Indiana got off the canvas and dropped 130 on the Knicks, including a sparkling 32/12/15 triple-double performance from breakout star Tyrese Haliburton.
If Indiana’s surprise run to last year’s Eastern Conference Finals was somewhat downplayed due to the several key injuries to the Milwaukee Bucks and New York Knicks’ star players, there should be no questioning how good this year’s Pacers team truly is. While their defense has improved considerably (13th in defensive rating after a woeful 27th in 2024) and is a major factor in their rise to title contention, their offense has been magnificent virtually all season and ascended to the upper stratosphere in the playoffs.
Indiana Pacers offense in the 2025 NBA Playoffs
- 1st in FG% (only team at or above 50%)
- 1st in TS% (only team at or above 60%)
- 1st in 2-pt FG%
- 1st in 3-pt FG%
- 1st in assist to turnover ratio
- 1st in points per possession in transition offense
- 1st in half court points per 100 possessions (per Cleaning the Glass)
- 4th in fastbreak points per game
- 4th in points off turnovers
- 6th in FT% (1st among conference finalists)
Their one “weakness” on offense has been poor offensive rebounding (both in volume and rebounding rate), but when you’re scoring at approximately 1.2 points per possession it’s not as big a deal.
Much like the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Pacers play at a fast pace while taking tremendous care of the ball. Indiana’s low turnover rate is even more impressive when you consider they lead all playoff teams in passes per game. Unlike the Thunder, Indiana doesn’t have anyone as dominant as league MVP and scoring champion Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, so they rely on a balanced attack. Seven Pacers averaged at least 10 points in the regular season and all of their starters have averaged double figures in the playoffs.
The Knicks series has exemplified how defending the Pacers is like a frustrating game of Whac-a-Mole. Andrew Nembhard can struggle his way to a 1/9, three-point clunker like he did in Game 4 and Bennedict Mathurin is there to swoop in off the bench and score a slump-busting 20. Pacers’ top scorer Pascal Siakam can have a modest 17-point Game 1 on 7/16 shooting only to have Aaron Nesmith unleash a 30-piece on a preposterous 8/9 from deep. Tyrese Haliburton can have a 14-point, 5/16 night and Siakam is there to carve Tom Thibodeau’s defense to pieces with 39 points in a Game 2 road win. There are offensive threats from Haliburton all the way through their impressively deep bench, which features dependable backup guard T.J. McConnell and his indefatigable ability to drive into the paint and get off a good shot. They iced Game 4 on an Obi Toppin dagger 3, much to the pain of Knicks fans.
Haliburton recently described head coach Rick Carlisle’s system as “organized chaos,” of which he is the masterful orchestrator. It’s an eclectic, free-flowing offense that can unleash three-point onslaughts just as much as it can rely on old-school post-ups from Siakam and Myles Turner or Haliburton floaters and lay-ups. When their aggressive, high-intensity defense is forcing turnovers and grabbing rebounds, their transition game is poetry in motion and has left their Eastern Conference foes flummoxed and flustered. The Pacers attack everywhere and anywhere with high efficiency. During the regular season Indiana was 6th in midrange rate, 20th in three-point rate (exempting garbage time and end-of-quarter heaves), and 20th in rate of shots at the rim. They ranked in the top 10 in field goal percentage in all three categories and have generally kept the same shot profile in the playoffs. This is arguably the ideal group to dispel any notion that all NBA teams play the same and just hunt for 3s, layups, and engage in an endless cycle of drive-and-kicks.
Indiana has consistently shown it has the potency to build huge leads (as the Cleveland Cavaliers found out in their Game 4 humiliation) and quickly erase seemingly impossible deficits, as evidenced by their remarkable last-minute comeback wins in each series.
Little attention was paid to the Pacers throughout the regular season; it wasn’t totally unjustified when they were 10-15 and struggling without the injured Haliburton and Nesmith. Since the calendar flipped to 2025, they’re 47-17 (playoffs included) and have looked every bit like a championship contender. Haliburton may be the headline name but this version of the Pacers is an undeniably great team. Indiana’s “organized chaos” has shown itself to be hard to stop, exciting to watch, and Rick Carlisle is five wins away from leading a second team to a first NBA championship.
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