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The Indiana Pacers fell well short of the NBA Finals, losing in four consecutive games to the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals. However, three of the series' four games proved to be very winnable for Indiana, which could make the playoff loss sting a little bit more than usual considering the Pacers' relative lack of postseason experience.
Despite never having been the playoffs with this core, the Pacers overcame the Milwaukee Bucks and New York Knicks to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals, where they met the Celtics. Boston was the NBA best regular-season team and a squad that unlike the Pacers, have been deep into the postseason plenty together. And that's what made the Pacers' collapses down the stretch of multiple games all that more disappointing.
Despite holding leads late in three games, the Pacers could not hold onto the advantage in any instance, with Jaylen Brown forcing overtime in Game 1 being a fitting preview of the series.
The losses will likely stick with fans, but the players expressed their thoughts on the multiple ‘heartbreaking' losses against Boston.
“It's still very fresh for all of us,” Pacers big man Myles Turner said [via ESPN's Jamal Collier]. “Very frustrating to have all these games in your grasp and let it slip through.”
Pacers guard Andrew Nembhard, who made as surprising of an impact this postseason as possibly anyone, said the team gained valuable experience in these playoffs.
“For a young team like us, this experience in the playoffs is second to none,” Nembhard said. “A lot of our first times. A lot of little things we maybe wanted to do better and we learned how these games go and what being in a series feels like.”
But Pascal Siakam, the rare veteran with previous playoff and championship experience, knows all too well that harsh losses like the ones Indiana suffered doesn't automatically translate into success down the line.
“I can tell you like, yeah, we're going to learn from it and it's going to happen, but it's not guaranteed,” Siakam said. “I know how hard it is to get to this point. It's unfortunate. You want to give credit to the other team because they took advantage of every mistake that we made. They did well.
“But for us, it's been hard, like heartbreaking losses after heartbreaking losses. Yeah, you're going to be encouraged by it and you hope to put the right amount of work to continue to get better. Because we need to be a lot better if you want to compete with those teams. And understand it doesn't matter how good we played, we didn't get it done.”
Where do Pacers go from here?
The Indiana Pacers entered the 2023-24 season as a young team with a lot of potential but little experience. They now end the season with some of their potential realized, playoff experience acquired, and as usual, some question marks moving forward.
Thankfully, Tyrese Haliburton is not a question mark; he is an exclamation point. The hotshot young guard took another leap this year until a hamstring injury slowed him down and the Pacers with him. With Haliburton expected to make a full recovery for next season, the next biggest issue is Pascal Siakam.
Siakam is anything but an issue on the court and in the locker room, but the former Raptors star is set to become an unrestricted free agent. To retain him, the Pacers will likely have to throw Siakam a five-year contract in excess of $200 million. In the unlikely event Siakam signs with another team, the Pacers would have lost the assets they shipped to Toronto in exchange for Siakam, as well as a dependable veteran who showed to have a positive impact on the Pacers this season.
The team could use another starting-level player, particularly one who gives the team more size at the 2 or 3. With Haliburton and Siakam's (likely) extensions kicking in, however, it will be tougher to round out the roster with players who fit the team and its financial constraints.
