When we look back in history, the Indiana Pacers’ sweep at the hands of the Boston Celtics may look like a one-sided affair. In truth, the series was lost in the margins.
The Pacers could have won Games 1, 3 and 4. However, their inexperience at this level and inability to up their production in the clutch were ultimately their downfall.
When speaking to the media following Indiana’s elimination from the playoffs, Tyrese Haliburton declared that Indiana had not yet ‘arrived.’
“We haven’t arrived,” Haliburton said. “…We still have to have a chip on our shoulder. It’s a whole new thing. We have to prove that this year wasn’t a fluke.”
Rick Carlisle’s team is young and scrappy, overflowing with talent and potential. It enjoyed two deep tournament runs this season, making it to the finals of the inaugural in-season tournament and to the final four of the NBA playoffs.
The Pacers are on the right track.
However, when you’re playing at this level, the little details matter, details that are often overlooked by a team that’s experiencing the environment for the first time. The lights are brighter at this stage of the playoffs. The scrutiny is unrelenting.
Indiana will head into the summer a much better team than the one that embarked on this postseason run.
With that in mind, Haliburton is right. This Pacers team overperformed. It’s still a work in progress. Too many players on the roster have multiple steps left in their development. More postseason heartbreak likely awaits them in the coming years.
It’s all part of the learning process. Look at the Boston Celtics: they’ve been to the conference finals in six of the last eight years, yet this is only their second NBA Finals in that span. This group has no championship rings to its name.
Teams have to go through this process. It’s how they develop. It’s what fuels the players to head into the offseason with a desire to go to another level.
No, the Pacers haven’t arrived yet. However, they’re on the right track and have all the pieces to be a factor in the postseason for years to come.
