Can The Pacers Make It Past The Opening Round Of The NBA Playoffs?

For five consecutive seasons,  the Indiana Pacers have lost in the first round of the Eastern Conference and posted a 6-20 record in the first round during that span. The last two years, they have been swept in the first round of the playoffs and while a large part of their postseason woes is because of injuries, their lack of offensive production in the playoffs is also a concern. 

Last season in the playoffs, the Pacers finished second-last in points per game and were dead last in rebounding. The last three years, the Pacers have been second-last or dead last in points per game during the playoffs, something that will need to increase if they will have any shot of advancing past the first-round this year.

Ultimately, the Indiana Pacers will be a playoff team in the Eastern Conference because fully healthy, this team has the makings of being a legit playoff team who could make some noise. Will they win a playoff series this year? It really looks like this year could be the year, especially if both Sabonis and Turner are healthy come playoff time.

These two guys in the frontcourt really impact this team and given their defensive and rebounding abilities, it will give the Pacers offense a chance to get going when it matters most. If the Pacers keep Oladipo and he is productive, that is an added bonus, but they do not need him in order to win in the playoffs. 

The interesting thing about the Pacers is that they do not really have a “go-to” guy like many of the other great teams do. It is yet to be seen whether or not this will positively or negatively affect Indiana moving forward, but fully healthy, they have the offensive firepower to be able to score against any team. The Pacers have faced a lot of adversity over the years and it would be great to see them reach their full potential this upcoming season.