The Top Reasons Why the Indiana Pacers Will Advance To the NBA Finals

The Eastern Conference Finals tip off Wednesday when the Indiana Pacers and New York Knicks rivalry gets renewed with a title trip on the line. The last time the Pacers went to the NBA Finals was in 2000 after sending the New York Knicks home. Then, it would only be fitting that the last time the Knicks made the NBA Finals was in 1999 after sending the Pacers home. Let’s dive into the top three reasons the Pacers will move on to the NBA Finals.

The Bench For the Pacers

The bench will be a major reason the Pacers win this series. The Knicks’ starting five finished in the top 25 in minutes played during the regular season. The Knicks also had three of the top six players in minutes played, with Mikal Bridges, Josh Hart, and OG Anunoby making that list. The Knicks will rely heavily on their starters.

The blue and gold, on the other hand, use an 11-man rotation with their bench scoring 35.7 points per game. That makes them fourth in the NBA Playoffs in bench scoring. The bench for the team consists of T.J. McConnell, Obi Toppin, and Benedict Mathurin leading the charge. All three are in the top 10 of bench scorers in the NBA Playoffs. That will be an advantage for the Pacers in this series.

Coaching Pedigree

Let’s look at both head coaches for the Indiana Pacers and the New York Knicks to see which team has the better coaching advantage. This is a very interesting aspect of the series. Both coaches are veterans of the NBA.

Pacers Head Coach Rick Carlisle started as an assistant coach in 1989 when he coached for the Nets. He spent 11 seasons as an assistant coach for three different teams, with one of them being the Pacers. He has 23 years under his belt as a head coach, with one of those seasons ending with an NBA title with Dallas. Carlisle has a regular season record of 993-860, making his career winning percentage .536. His playoff winning percentage is below .500 with a record of 79-81, making his playoff winning percentage .494. 

Tom Thibodeau also started coaching in 1989 with the Timberwolves and spent 20 years as an assistant with six different NBA franchises. He got his first head coaching job for the Bulls in 2010 and has been the head coach of three NBA teams.

He has a career record of 578-420, making his career winning percentage .579. Thibodeau’s playoff record as a head coach is 46-51, making his playoff winning percentage .474. After the comparison of both head coaches, it would be safe to say that Indiana has the advantage.

Final Thoughts

After all of this research, my pick is the Pacers to win the Eastern Conference Finals in 5 games. The depth of this team and how well they are coached are just two of the reasons I feel this way. The other would be the chemistry between all of them.

This team was in the Eastern Conference Finals last season and got swept by the Celtics. The front office kept everyone from that team last season and has just gotten better with time. It should be a great series that tips off on Wednesday, so stay tuned to Total Apex Sports for everything that happens in the NBA Playoffs.