Rick Carlisle isn’t interested in loud predictions or summer chest-thumping. He’s setting a different tone for the Pacers, one built around urgency, health and a better opening stretch than Indiana has managed in recent years.
“We want to start fast and finish strong.” Carlisle said that to Draymond Green on The Draymond Green Show while discussing the Pacers’ upcoming season.
That message comes after a wild two-year swing for Indiana. The franchise reached Game 7 of the NBA Finals just two seasons removed from its greatest season in decades, then turned around and posted the worst record in team history at 19-63.
With Tyrese Haliburton back on the floor, the expectations around the Pacers are rising again, and Carlisle made it clear the standard inside the building is no secret.
“Our expectations internally are going to be high,” Carlisle told Green. “Draymond, you know this, but you don't win championships talking about it in July and August. We're going to keep things on a low profile and internally we'll set our standards high.”
Carlisle also pointed to the slow starts that have tripped up Indiana in the past. The Pacers opened slowly in both of their recent deep runs, something he said has to change if they want another real shot at a title.
“You know both years we went to the Conference Finals in '24 and the NBA Finals (Game 7) in '25, we had slow starts.” Carlisle continued, “The big thing this summer is health. Getting everybody completely healthy and ramping up conditioning so that we can have a healthy training camp and get into the season.”
Green brought up the idea of the Pacers being a sleeper in the East, and Carlisle didn’t lean into the label. He also pushed back on the notion that one conference has become dramatically tougher than the other.
“the whole league is hard” he said, adding that there are several strong teams in both conferences.
As for how Indiana plans to handle being overlooked, Carlisle kept the answer simple.
“we're not going to do a lot of talking, we're going to do a lot of preparing.”
That fits the moment for the Pacers. They’ve already lived through the high of a Finals run and the low of a franchise-worst season. Now the challenge is turning that experience into another serious push, with Carlisle emphasizing that the work has to happen long before anyone starts talking about banners.
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