Why Pacers Deserve National Media's Attention

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Lance Roberson | Last updated Dec 30, 2024 8:51 PM ET

Even during a successful stretch of basketball, it's hard to convince people outside of their home state to believe in the Indiana Pacers. Indiana is 7-3 in its last 10 games, indicating it is on the right track. On Sunday, Indiana's recent win came against the reigning NBA champions, the Boston Celtics. The 123-114 victory over the Celtics revealed a dominant statistic during a disappointing season.

Although the Pacers re-signed their core players from the 2024 Eastern Conference Finals run and experienced a training camp with Pascal Siakam, a plethora of injuries and regression from Tyrese Haliburton dropped them to the lower tier of the conference's playoff window.

In Sunday's win over the Celtics, Haliburton tied for the game-high score with 31 points as he shot an efficient 11-19 from the field. Adding to his efficiency, Haliburton converted 8 of 9 shots from the free-throw line.

In addition to Haliburton's timely performance, Pascal Siakam's defensive effort, evidenced by his one block and three steals, and Andrew Nembhard's overall positive outing, as he scored 17 points and accumulated eight assists and eight rebounds, provided the Pacers with enough production to avenge their embarrassing 142-105 loss to the Celtics on Friday.

Despite crumbling to the Celtics on Saturday, the Pacers maintained their dominance in light of their 3-1 record over the Dallas Mavericks and the reigning champion for the 2024-25 season.

Although their 16-17 record suggests they aren't worthy of any significant discourse, the Pacers' success vs. the two teams who appeared in the 2024 NBA Finals merits national media attention.

Tuesday provides Indiana another opportunity to prove it belongs in the 2025 playoffs with a potential victory over the 16-14 Milwaukee Bucks.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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