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Tyrese Haliburton and the Indiana Pacers Want to Shock the NBA by Winning the East.
A Legit Dark Horse
One of the great joys/hazards of writing about the NBA playoffs while they’re in progress is that the script can be flipped in 48 minutes.
Use this story as Exhibit ‘A.’ It’s a fair premise to have the Indiana Pacers and the Boston Celtics meeting in the final of the Eastern Conference. However, at the time of this writing, the Indiana Pacers’ odds of getting there are significantly better than those of the defending-champion Celtics.
Go figure.
Indy was at 9-1 (+900), while the Celtics were 20-1 (+2000). Read below to see why.
While your friendly author is putting virtual pen to virtual paper, it’s the No. 4 Pacers with a surprising 3-1 lead over the East’s top-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers. We loathe being date-specific in these stories, but Indy has a shot to close out the Cavs this evening (Tuesday, May 13) as Game 5 returns to Cleveland.
Indiana was a dominating 129-109 home winner in the fourth game of the series, 72 first-half points effectively ending proceedings. Lest anyone forget, the Pacers stunned the Cavs (and everyone else) by winning the first two games in Ohio.
Indiana disposed of the Milwaukee Bucks (five games) in the first round of the playoffs, aided in no small part by the play of point guard Tyrese Haliburton. Look at Tyrese Haliburton's stats during both the regular season (18.6 points, 9.2 assists per game) and playoffs (16 points, league-leading 9.4 assists/game), and it’s obvious.
Then, there’s the case of the Boston Celtics. They were favored to win the East and the second choice (behind the Oklahoma City Thunder) to lift the Larry O’Brien Trophy. However, no one told the New York Knickerbockers.
As of this writing (there’s that phrase again), it was New York with a 3-1 series advantage over Boston, after a rousing second-half comeback in Game 4 at Madison Square Garden.
Not only did Boston not win the game, but it may well have lost its leading scorer, Jayson Tatum. Tatum crumbled to the floor in the waning moments with an injured leg after a dazzling 42-point performance to lead all scorers in the game.
Tatum’s injury (with MRI pending) and doubtful (?) further availability thus became the storyline of the series, with the Knicks on the brink of a first conference final appearance since 2000 (ironically against the Pacers).
Looking at the NBA schedule, the teams return to Boston, with Game 5 tomorrow evening (Wednesday, May 14th). Remember the Knicks, same as the Pacers, won two road games to open the series.
Here’s a bit of a primer on the Indiana Pacers, their past as well as their present…
Who Is the Most Famous Indiana Pacer?
The uninitiated may well not be aware that the Indiana Pacers were one of the best franchises in the long-defunct American Basketball Association. Indiana was a three-time ABA champ (and five-time finalist) before joining the NBA in the merger of 1976.
Listing the famous Pacers means dividing into the eras of the Indiana Pacers game in the ABA (Mel Daniels, Roger Brown, Billy Keller, and George McGinnis as a start) and NBA (beginning with Reggie Miller, Paul George, Danny Granger, Rik Smits, and Dale Davis).
Brown, Daniels, McGinnis, and Miller are in Springfield’s Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.
Have the Pacers Ever Won an NBA Title?
As was mentioned, Indiana was thrice a champ of the American Basketball Association, but never a titleist in the NBA. Indiana was the Eastern Conference champ in 2000, but lost six games to the Los Angeles Lakers in its lone Finals appearance. However, the Indiana Pacers odds to win the 2025 title have shortened considerably.
Does BetUS Have Constant Updates on Indiana Pacers’ Betting Odds?
Indeed, with the Indiana Pacers’ odds, which were (as of now) 2-1 (+200) to win the East and 9-1 (+900) to win the title.
Any Final Thoughts?
Again, the premise of this story is intriguing, with a possible Celtic-Pacer pairing in the Eastern Conference. Boston’s hurting, however, in more ways than one. It’s down, 3-1, to the New York Knicks while NBA rumors swirl around Jayson Tatum’s injury status.
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