Showtime Lakers Shockingly Compared to 2025 Pacers

Perhaps the best era of Los Angeles Lakers basketball was the Showtime Lakers era. That team with Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was almost unstoppable.

Those Lakers teams won five championships with those two players on the roster. They played a style of basketball that no one had ever seen before.

The Lakers were moving the ball around and sharing it in ways that other teams weren't able to. They played very fast in the 1980s in an era that was more married to a half-court style of basketball.

It's part of the reason why those teams were revered by so many for so long. Other teams have copied that style of basketball with mixed success.

The 2025 version of the Indiana Pacers is a team that is getting compared to that era of Lakers teams. The way that they move the ball and play with such speed is extremely impressive.

The numbers are making it a compelling case. Indiana is putting up the most points in two consecutive postseasons since the Lakers in 1986-87.

Indiana is also shooting the best in the last two postseasons since the Lakers in 1987-88. It's clear that the comparisons fit with how the team has run through the playoffs.

Tyrese Haliburton is the Pacers' version of Johnson, although not as big. He is a pass-first point guard who loves to get everyone involved before getting his own offensive game going.

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Indiana is just a game away from making the NBA Finals for just the second time in franchise history. The only other time they made it, the Lakers beat them for a title.

The Lakers won't be able to spoil Indiana's party this year. They are sitting at home, trying to figure out the best way to compete for a title next season.

Lakers fans might not want to admit that the Pacers are playing well enough to be compared to the Showtime Lakers, but the numbers simply do not lie. They are the 2025 version of some of the most fun NBA teams ever.

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