The Indiana Pacers are not to be trifled with come postseason time, and the Cleveland Cavaliers learned that the hard way. Despite being heavy underdogs entering the series, the Pacers finished off the 64-win, Eastern Conference-leading Cavs in five games. In Game 5, Indiana took care of business, securing their spot in the Eastern Conference Finals for the second consecutive year with a 114-105 win that was punctuated by a dagger three-ball from lifetime Pacer, Myles Turner.

With the Pacers up by six and the Cavs in desperate need of a defensive stop with around 25 or so seconds left in the ballgame, the ball found an open Turner in the corner, and the 10-year Pacers veteran hit paydirt with a corner triple that sealed the deal for them in the series.

But even with the success they've found in this year's playoffs, the Pacers are still embracing the role of the underdog. They have this huge chip on their shoulder, and there is no greater evidence of that than Turner's post following their Game 5 win reminding ESPN and their “experts” that none of them chose the Pacers to advance to the ECF.

“Jobs Not Finished,” Turner wrote as the caption to his post.

Of course, the Cavs' regular-season excellence and their thorough dominance in their first-round matchup against the Miami Heat were strong enough reasons for those experts and insiders to side with Cleveland in their series against the Pacers. On paper, it looked like the Cavs were the favorite to win, but games are not played on paper, and the Pacers displayed plenty of intangibles that makes them a tough nut to crack come postseason time.

Experts will now learn not to count the Pacers out. They play with so much unselfishness, composure, and togetherness, making it difficult for any kind of adversity to rattle them and affect the way they play under the bright lights of the playoffs.

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Myles Turner, Pacers look to go all the way

Indiana Pacers center Myles Turner (33) celebrates a made basket during game four of the second round for the 2025 NBA Playoffs against the Cleveland Cavaliers at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
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The title-race is wide open than it's ever been. As unfortunate as it might be, the reality is that it's unlikely for the Boston Celtics to repeat as champion now that they're down 3-1 to the New York Knicks and they will now be without Jayson Tatum for the foreseeable future. This opens up the very real possibility that the Pacers make it to the NBA Finals for the first time since 2000.

Nonetheless, Myles Turner, as lofty as the Pacers' ambitions may be, is still not getting ahead of himself.

“One game at a time, but we want the whole thing this year. So we'll see what happens,” Turner said, via the official ClutchPoints account on X (formerly Twitter).