The Pacers inexplicably lost a lead late in Game 1 at TD Garden and faced an uphill battle to face the 64-win Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals. Is there still a path to the NBA Finals for Indiana?
It had been a long time since the Pacers had advanced to the conference finals, but they defeated the Knicks in Game 7, breaking a 10-year winless streak. If you’re a fan of the Heat during the Big Three era, the Pacers were Miami’s biggest thorn in the side, an upstart team led by Paul George, Lance Stephenson, and Roy Hibbert that was one win away from the Finals. You may remember that.
The 2023-24 Pacers are nothing like they were a decade ago, and even more has changed since the franchise last appeared in the NBA Finals: a new nucleus that gives Indiana fans hope, with a twist on the old in the form of coach Rick Carlisle.
Let’s take a look back at the Pacers’ championship history, including their last appearance in the NBA Finals.
More: How TJ McConnell became a playoff hero for the Pacers
Pacers NBA Finals History
When was the last time the Pacers appeared in the NBA Finals?
The last time the Pacers reached the NBA Finals was in 2000, led by Reggie Miller, Jalen Rose and Mark Jackson.
The Pacers went 56-26 in the 1999-20 season under manager Larry Bird, but faced a tough test against the 67-win Lakers, who were looking for their first championship of the Kobe Bryant-Shaquille O’Neal era. . Indiana trailed 2-0 early in the series, but won Game 3 at home, reinvigorating the Pacers and moving them within three wins of the championship.
A tough battle got even tougher as the Lakers won Game 4 in Indiana. Indiana’s blowout win in Game 5 did not seriously threaten Los Angeles’ championship hopes. Bryant and O’Neal won the title together for the first time in Game 6.
Bryant’s struggles kept the Pacers from winning the series. The young superstar averaged 15.6 points per game and shot just 36.7% from the field. If the Pacers could have contained O’Neal, they might have had a chance to win. But the dominant big man averaged 38.0 points and 16.7 rebounds in six games, shattering Indiana’s defense. O’Neal led the Lakers in scoring in all six games, leading them to two 30-20 wins and scoring 40 or more points in a row to open the series.
By the time the Pacers reached the Finals in 2000, Miller was already approaching 35, so Indiana’s chances of winning were not guaranteed for long, and Bird also resigned after the season, promising to coach for only three years.
The Pacers retooled their roster and a few years later, a stifling defensive team built around a core of Jermaine O’Neal and Ron Artest that won 61 games and nearly returned to the NBA Finals in 2004 under the direction of none other than Rick Carlisle.
They never returned, and the journey of the small-market Pacers in the Tyrese Haliburton era continued.
Did the Pacers win?
The Pacers have not won an NBA championship since the NBA-ABA merger in 1976, but they have won ABA titles in 1970, 1972 and 1973.
Pacers great George McGinnis had an impressive rookie career from 1971-1992, averaging 27.6 points as a sophomore and helping the franchise win the last two ABA titles.
Indiana is one of 10 teams that have never won an NBA championship. The other is still active, with the Timberwolves looking to win their first championship in franchise history. The Celtics are one of the oldest franchises in NBA history, last winning in 2008, while the Mavericks are the most recent of the conference finalists with their 2011 title.
More: How Tyrese Haliburton and Reggie Miller devastated the Knicks after Game 7
Longest NBA Finals Drought
The Pacers haven’t been to the NBA Finals in 24 years, but that’s far from the longest suspension in NBA history: There are five teams that have never been to the NBA Finals, and eight more teams with longer suspensions than Indiana.
Here’s a list of each team’s final NBA Finals appearances:
Team’s last NBA Finals appearanceDryClippersN/A TimberwolvesN/A GrizzliesN/A HornetsN/A PelicansN/A Kings195173 Hawks196163 Wizards197945 Trail Blazers199232 Rockets199529 Bulls199826 Jazz199826 Knicks199925 Pacers20002476ers 2001 23 Nets 2003 21 Pistons 2005 19 Magic 2009 15 Mavericks 2011 13 Thunder 2012 12 Spurs 2014 10 Cavaliers 2018 6 Raptors 2019 5 Lakers 2020 4 Suns 2021 3 B-Axes 2021 3 Celtics 2022 2 Warriors 2022 2 Heat 2023 1 Nuggets 2023 1
Source link
