Last season, the Indiana Pacers made their first conference finals appearance in a decade. Despite ultimately losing to the eventual champion Boston Celtics in a four-game sweep, everybody would tell you that the Pacers played them harder than any of their other opponents in the postseason. Realistically, the Pacers could have (and maybe should have) won three of the four games they played against Boston, which is a sentiment Joe Mazzulla has publicly agreed with.
Though they were four games short of their first NBA Finals appearance since 2000, the Pacers sent a message to the NBA–they are resilient, and nobody wants to face them in a seven-game series. The Pacers have constantly proved that they are willing to rise to the occasion and will not back down against the NBA’s top teams.
After their slow start to the season, the Pacers have turned things around and are reminding the basketball world just how good they can be, so much so that even those closest to the league are taking notice.
In a recent episode of The Hoop Collective (YouTube link), ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, who traveled to France to cover the NBA Paris Games 2025 between the Pacers and Spurs, revealed his biggest takeaway from the two-game series. Windhorst said it will be difficult for any team in the league to beat the Pacers in the playoffs because of how tough they play. Additionally, he mentioned how impressive the team looks on defense, especially after Andrew Nembhard and Aaron Nesmith returned.
