Pacers Completely Adopted New Identity to Reach NBA Finals

The Indiana Pacers have taken the NBA by storm with their uptempo offense, leading the team to the NBA Finals for the first time since 2000.

All over the roster, there are players who can hit just about any shot on the floor, either contested or open, and are able to play at a high pace.

Similar to the Warriors at their peak in the last decade, the Pacers can hit teams with a flurry of points out of nowhere, all while pressuring the opposing ball-handlers up and down the court, making them earn their points and forcing turnovers.

The Pacers play with only havoc in mind and have some of the best cardio in the league, something that head coach Rick Carlisle purposely focused on during the off-season.

"When we did exit meetings last year after the season, we talked about the importance of a great summer of conditioning, and look, this is one of the reasons that Tyrese had a slow start to the year," Carlisle said on the Pate McAfee Show.

"You know, he was coming off the injury last year in the conference finals to Boston.

"He got he got healthy basically just in time to start practicing with Team USA with the Olympics and then once the games started, you know, he he wasn't playing much and then he got dinged up in I think the second to last game and then he was not really healthy until about two or three days before actual training camp started.

"So he missed out on a summer of conditioning and base building, you know, from a conditioning standpoint, and it's one of the big reasons that the start to his season this year was slow. It's a commitment, and it's not just you know, you don't just come into training camp to get in shape.

"Nowadays in this NBA, you've got to do your conditioning stuff during the summer, and you've got to come in really tuned up."