The Indiana Pacers may not sit near the top of the Eastern Conference pecking order, but the matchups suggest they have something real working in their favor.
On paper, Indiana is being treated like a step behind the Philadelphia 76ers and the reigning champion New York Knicks. The Sixers are now led by LeBron, and the Knicks carry the crown.
The Pacers, by comparison, are viewed as the team without the same talent edge or championship DNA. But that outside skepticism comes with a twist: Indiana has already shown it can handle these opponents head-to-head.
That matters.
If the teams that are supposed to be better have already had trouble solving the Pacers, then maybe Indiana’s place in the conversation deserves a second look. Maybe this isn’t just about being outmatched. Maybe it’s about being built to cause problems for the teams around them.
The Knicks are the cleaner example. Indiana is 8-5 in the playoffs against New York since the Haliburton and Brunson eras began.
That came even as the Knicks took their final great step last year and the Pacers stumbled through a brutal 19-win gap year. Still, when these two meet again, the gap may not be as large as the broader narrative suggests.
Part of that comes from familiarity. Brunson and Haliburton have been compared for years, each leading his team to Finals berths, and their tension even spilled into a WWE event. OG Anunoby and Pascal Siakam also know each other well from their Toronto Raptors days, when they won a title in 2019.
The Knicks also just lost Mitchell Robinson, and that could change the balance inside. With less size down low, Karl Towns could be pushed back into the center minutes that don’t fit him as well. That opens a path for Indiana to exploit the areas beyond the guard battle.
The Sixers bring a different kind of matchup. The connection there is less about narrative and more about how the pieces line up.
Haliburton and Tyrese Maxey are two of the three best point guards from the loaded 2020 draft, taken 12th and 21st. Beyond that, the overlap is thinner, but the individual matchups still matter.
Andre Drummond and Kelly Oubre Jr. each arrive as castoffs from the Sixers bench unit. Jaylen Brown against Aaron Nesmith, LeBron James against Siakam, and Ivica Zubac trying to slow the once-MVP Joel Embiid, who appears to have taken a step back, all add to the picture.
Indiana may well be worse in the regular season. But if the Pacers keep matching up this well against the teams in front of them, June could look a lot friendlier than the preseason hierarchy does.
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