As the Indiana Pacers party like it’s 2000 and brace for their first NBA Finals since the world eluded the Y2K bug, their pickup line stands in the corner—quiet but confident, ready to pounce.
That’s exactly why the Oklahoma City Thunder should be on alert. The NBA’s best team will be favored when the series starts Thursday night, but such things clearly don’t faze the Pacers.
Underdog Indiana eliminated Milwaukee and Eastern Conference top seed Cleveland in five games before taking care of the New York Knicks in six. Saturday’s 125-108 East finals clincher shook Gainbridge Fieldhouse the same way Indiana rattled New York—forcing 17 turnovers and dictating the pace.
“It’s not the flashiest, sexiest team,” Pacers center Myles Turner said, “but it gets results.”
Getting in the grill of the opposition’s best player is a key objective in basketball, yet most fans seek 3-point barrages or flashy transition passing before a big dunk.
Indiana can score, sure—you must if you rally three times from eight-point deficits with less than one minute left, as the Pacers have this postseason.
Still, it starts with pestering defense. Stopping the ball to be able to reclaim it, and going from there.
“The work we’ve done on that end,” point guard Tyrese Haliburton said, “is the reason why we’re here.”
The latest display helped the Pacers put the Knicks away and avoid the crapshoot of a potential Game 7 at Madison Square Garden. NBA lovers may have heard of Andrew Nembhard before Saturday, but he served notice to many others by grabbing six steals and forcing Knicks star Jalen Brunson into a game-high-tying five turnovers.
“I had a big task. I tried to be a pest and pick him up full court, irritate him and just do my best job to make it tough on him,” Nembhard said. “He was dominating the series, and there’s not much you can do with a guy like that, but I tried to make it tough on him.”
Next up: NBA MVP point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder.
Indiana won 18 fewer regular-season games than OKC’s league-best 68. The Pacers earned half the Thunder’s total after Jan. 1 alone, finishing 34-14 down the stretch after struggling to stay above .500 for the first nine weeks of the season.
“We understand the challenge of the opponent,” Indiana coach Rick Carlisle said. “Oklahoma City has been dominant all year with all capital letters. DOMINANT.”
Ditto for the playoffs. OKC will bring eight days of rest into the Finals after rolling past the Minnesota Timberwolves in five games to win the West.
While Gilgeous-Alexander may grab the headlines and ad space, the Thunder carry a dangerous defensive identity of their own, yielding 3.4 fewer points per 100 possessions than any team in the playoffs.
Postseason foes are shooting just 33% from deep against OKC, so something must give when the Pacers come calling. Indiana is making treys at a 40% clip in the playoffs, tops in the league.
There’s lots of work to be done, the Pacers realize.
When you’re admittedly neither flashy nor sexy but still successful—what else is new?
