Indiana Pacers Emerging as Eastern Conference Dark Horses

that’s three 👀 pic.twitter.com/zifbNpYS20

— Indiana Pacers (@Pacers) May 12, 2025

And don’t even try to fight it here. While we’ve all been living and breathing everything going on in the Boston Celtics vs New York Knicks series, the Pacers have been hard at work making everybody turn their heads to Indiana and saying, “Wait, what?”

Apparently, Indiana took a page out of Michael Jordan’s book after coming into the playoffs as glaring NBA picks and predictions underdogs, and “took it personally”.

With a current 6-2 postseason record, (4-1 at home) which includes knocking out the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round and taking a 3-1 lead against the Cavs in the semifinals, one thing’s for sure, while everybody looked the other way, Indiana got to work grinding and pounding their way to a potential Eastern Conference Finals trip.

our 4-1 record at home is the best in the @NBA playoffs 🔥 pic.twitter.com/A7fnhiukCx

— Indiana Pacers (@Pacers) May 12, 2025

Tonight, as the Pacers walk into Rocket Arena in Cleveland ready to deliver a final blow to the #1-seeded Cavs, it’s time for sleepers to wake up and doubters to start believing.

a close out opportunity. pic.twitter.com/VGu1HPK98W

— Indiana Pacers (@Pacers) May 13, 2025

Yes, these Pacers are for real.

It’s Not Just Haliburton, It’s a Team Effort

One of the main talking points across all NBA news outlets when talking about Indiana’s season has been how the Pacers have shown that teamwork does actually make the dream work.

A great part of the Pacers winning 50 NBA games in the regular season stems from putting everybody’s talents to work instead of relying solely on one player, Tyrese Haliburton.

I’m in no way, shape, or form a fan of Haliburton, but I do give props where deserved, and Indiana’s star point guard has earned his stripes, mainly with how he’s led his team to show up and ball out at full potential.

If you don’t believe it, just look at the team’s performance breakdown from their game 4 win against Cleveland.

a perfectly balanced Game 4 win ⚖️ pic.twitter.com/YWrShxyzWG

— Indiana Pacers (@Pacers) May 12, 2025

See who’s last on that list? Yes, Haliburton. But he doesn’t have an issue with that or bitch about taking a secondary role. He understands the bigger picture here. It’s not about stats, statements, or NBA rumors. It’s about taking Indy to potentially win a championship.

Watching this team now, I look back at a past X post from the team’s official page where they made one statement clear: “We don’t need your respect, we take it”.

“We don’t need your respect. We take it.”

INDY is back in the playoffs 🗣️#YesCers pic.twitter.com/YjWheQjWbQ

— Indiana Pacers (@Pacers) April 16, 2025

As a Knicks fan who’s hated the Pacers since Reggie Miller’s days, let me be the first to say, alright, Indy, you’ve got my respect.

Can Indiana Go All the Way?

Standing one win away from a trip to the Eastern Conference Finals, there are only two questions left to answer. First, do they have enough to take down another conference favorite, be it the Celtics or Knicks? And if they do, can they manage to pull off the final blow and win the NBA title?

Be it Pacers vs Celtics, or Pacers vs Knicks at the end (I think we can all agree on who’ll be playing for the Eastern Conference title), I’m willing to buy into the idea of Indiana managing to walk the walk and talk the talk here, at least in the East.

They said the East ran through Boston.
They crowned Milwaukee too early.
They hyped up Cleveland’s resurgence and New York’s grit.

But while the league looked the other way, the Indiana Pacers built a nightmare matchup in plain sight.

🔹 Tyrese Haliburton — The engine, the… pic.twitter.com/ySTD43YkjE

— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) May 12, 2025

This Pacers team is all about hunger and grind. With how they’re performing right now, you could have them play for a month straight with no rest and hear no complaints or anything.

It doesn’t matter who you put in front, when it comes to bringing the fight, Indiana is ready to put them up and go round by round against anybody.

Can The Indiana pacers win a championship with this team? I think so. This team is scrappy an hungry. pic.twitter.com/2ks5cQqo6u

— ViperVaultGaming (@VaultViper) May 12, 2025

Can I see Indiana going all the way? Yes. Do I want it? Not if it means getting to the title through New York, but that’s just the Knicks fan in me talking.

Well done, Pacers, take a bow for now.