Celtics sweep Pacers into the offseason to end deep playoff run

The Pacers took full advantage of their playoff circumstances to earn valuable experience. Now what?

After this past Pacers and Racers weekend in Indianapolis, it was easy to draw parallels between the Indy 500 and the NBA playoffs.

Long ago when I first listened to the Indy 500, my now deceased father, a nuclear engineer by day, loved the technical aspects of the race and explained that the cars are going as fast as the driver and the engineers on the team can make them go, but…it’s also an endurance race.

It doesn’t matter how fast the car is, if it can’t make it 200 laps, it can’t win. With engine failures, parts breaking, pit stop problems or wrecks on the track, the day can end in an instant now matter how good the car was at the green flag.

When the Pacers earned the sixth seed in the East and I wrote about the potential opportunity, I had the same mindset. The Bucks were not at full strength. While the Sixers and Knicks started the playoffs in good shape, Joel Embiid was always one trip down the floor from being injured and out. The Knicks had Mitchell Robinson and OG Anunoby who would be major thorns should they play the Pacers, but they weren’t reliable to stay healthy at the playoff pace the Knicks play.

Take care of business and the opportunities to stay in the race and you never know what will happen down the road. The Pacers immaturity throughout the year was a problem and a reason they were the sixth seed and not the second. But Pascal Siakam set the tone early in Milwaukee and his teammates followed, quickly applying playoff lessons as the playoff run continued.

The Knicks were a perfect second-round team with a crew of dogs in their prime displaying the relentless level of play required to win a playoff game, let alone a series. While the Pacers came up small at points in that series, they stood tall in Game 7 at MSG, taking advantage of the opportunity as the Knicks ran out of gas to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals.

In the ECF, the Pacers took in a master class from a team that was not trying to make a deep playoff run, but instead focused on winning a championship in the Boston Celtics. They have been climbing to that point the past few years and by adding Derek White and Jrue Holiday to Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, the C’s defensive discipline and refusal to die, showed up at crunch time in three of the four games the Pacers let slip away. Even without Kristaps Porzingis, who like OG is not reliable from an injury stand point, but very much a difference maker when on the court, the C’s had plenty of horsepower to make their way to the Finals.

In Games 1, 3 and 4, the Pacers were very much like Pato O’Ward. After a long day (or season in the Pacers’ case) in the middle of the pack, the circumstances in the race pushed the young Indy Car star into a 10-lap duel at the finish, but ultimately at that moment, Josef Newgarden had a better car and was able to swoop in and swipe the race on the last lap.

The sweep of the Pacers is equally devastating after riding a magical wave of optimism throughout the postseason. You can’t rely on being in that position again next year (or the next year) even if the team is vastly improved. However, after the dust settles, you have to appreciate what this Pacers team accomplished. From a media day when the playoffs were not mentioned but further development was the key, to the In-Season Tournament run that exposed a potential ceiling higher than many assumed, to adding Siakam and making a deep playoff run for a total 100 games played — this season was remarkable.

Like the Knicks in round two, the Pacers ran out of gas against the Celtics, losing Tyrese Haliburton for the last two games. Now the Pacers head into the offseason continuing their quest to build a championship caliber team. In exit interviews, we heard the Pacers had an initial goal of making the conference finals in three years, but by taking advantage of their opportunities, made it the finals in one year.

But there is still much growth and/or changes that need to take place. While the Pacers showed in the regular season and the postseason that they can compete with every top team in the East, as we sit here today, the healthy rosters of the Knicks, Sixers and Bucks (along with the C’s) are all stronger than the Pacers with Philly in position to make improvements, which could include making a run at Pascal Siakam.

The exit interviews indicated the Pacers will do everything they can to keep Siakam in the mix, which includes likely overpaying for him. The continued growth and development of Jarace Walker and Bennedict Mathurin are equally important. The Pacers desperately need an active big win to help at both ends. They may have an additional option in Kendall Brown (just 21) to play that active, big wing defender, if his game and decision-making can catch up to the speed with which he seems to play.

Standing pat and hoping the development of young players on the roster will make the difference next year is a risk, though. Adding a veteran big win who can defend would be great short-term move if they can find the right fit.

As I also mentioned at the beginning of the year, the Pacers can’t waste any of these Haliburton years while he’s on his max contract. With Andrew Nembhard, TJ McConnell and Aaron Nesmith on very team-friendly contracts (Nembhard is honestly on a criminal contract at just over $2 mil/year for two more years), adding a bigger veteran salary for a couple of years would fit well.

Any and all efforts by the Pacers this offseason has to be aimed at building on the toughness they developed throughout the Knicks series along with improving the rebounding and defensive production. It was fitting that the last play of the season, the Pacers gave up an offensive rebound to Jrue Holiday, allowing him to run out the clock. Those types of plays were often the fatal flaw in close losses which should keep the Pacers hungry for more and motivated to improve after their unexpected and quite impressive playoff run.

Looking forward to digging into more details of the Pacers offseason team building efforts. Thanks so much for the support of the site throughout the season!!!