What To Expect From ‘Uninvited Guest’ Pacers In East Finals Vs. Celtics

The frenetic pace at which the Indiana Pacers like to play at doesn’t usually translate well when the game slows down in the NBA playoffs.

But the Pacers beg to differ, especially now that they are headed to the Eastern Conference finals to face the Boston Celtics after defeating the New York Knicks in Game 7 on Sunday at Madison Square Garden.

“Well, we’re the uninvited guest,” Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle told reporters following the 130-109 victory, per league-provided video. “So here we are.”

It’s highly unlikely the sixth-seeded Pacers will try to ease off the gas pedal against the juggernaut Celtics. Indiana tallied a league-best 123.3 points per game in the regular season, and the Pacers are the highest-scoring team in the postseason, too, netting an average of 114.2 points. They also ranked second in the NBA in pace during the regular season, only trailing the Washington Wizards — the Celtics ranked 19th.

The Knicks had a solid defense, but even they had issues slowing down the Pacers, especially in Game 7. Indiana shot a blistering 67.1% from the field in the winner-take-all matchup, which was the highest field goal percentage in a playoff game in NBA history, per ESPN.

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The Pacers aren’t reliant on just a singular player or even two to generate offense. They have six players who are averaging double figures in scoring in the postseason, led by Pascal Siakam’s 21.2 points and Tyrese Haliburton’s 18.3. That group doesn’t include former Celtics forward Aaron Nesmith, who falls just outside the double-digit mark at 9.8 points per game.

“I’m just proud of this group, man, for real. This is one of the most special groups I’ve been around — it is the most special group I’ve been around since I’ve been here,” Myles Turner, who averages 17.6 points per game in the playoffs, told reporters, per league-provided video. “We all play for each other. There’s no ego. And when you got guys that can score 15, 20-plus points every single night, seven, eight guys, there can be a lot of ego involved with that. And we were able to nip that in the bud a lot earlier this season.”

The Celtics will be tasked with finding a way to bottle up Indiana’s offense, which Boston is well-equipped to do even with Kristaps Porzingis out for the start of the series. The Celtics owned the second-best defensive rating in the league this season.

That well-rounded ability is something the Pacers don’t possess. They gave up the fourth-most points per game in the league during the regular season. The Celtics hung 155 points on the Pacers the first time the two teams met this season, which was the most points for Boston in a regular-season game since Red Auerbach roamed the sideline during the 1958-59 campaign.

The least amount of points the Celtics scored against the Pacers this season was 112, which came when Indiana bounced Boston from the inaugural in-season tournament. Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Derrick White, Jrue Holiday and the rest of the Celtics have to be salivating over the offensive opportunities they will get this series.

The Celtics, without a doubt, will be the heavy favorite against the Pacers. The Pacers are playing with house money at this point, though. And that can be very dangerous and something the Celtics can’t take lightly with a trip to the NBA Finals on the line.