The Indiana Pacers are in the NBA Finals for the second time in franchise history after yet another shocking display of dominance over the Eastern Conference. Tyrese Haliburton‘s spectacular playmaking helps fuel Indiana’s lethal offense that teams have struggled to defend.
While modern offenses are often designed to maximize the three-point shot or to hunt down mismatches, Indiana’s offense is a balanced attack of movement and speed. Before they match up against a strong OKC defense in the Finals, let’s take a closer look at two factors that make the Pacers such a unique scoring threat.
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Player Movement
If a drive to the basket is contained by a help defender, most teams have three-point shooters spread out across the perimeter to pass the ball to for an open shot. NBA defenses have finally began adjusting to this strategy and have figured out ways to close out on the open shooter.
The Pacers combat this with a barrage of cuts and screens. Instead of having off-ball players stand and wait for a pass, the Pacers cut to the basket or screen away for another teammate. This disorients the defense and opens up a number of inside scoring opportunities.
As one of the deepest and most athletic teams in the league, the Pacers can sacrifice outside shooting in exchange for inside scoring and quickness.
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Patience + Speed
The Pacers have made a name for themselves as one of the fastest offenses in the league, but not in the traditional sense. Instead of sprinting down the court for a rushed shot, the Pacers patiently break down teams in the halfcourt setting. They run their plays and actions faster than any team in the league, sprinting to screens and throwing passes as hard and as quickly as possible.
While everyone moves and the play unfolds, the Pacers patiently search for the best shot.
They’ll run three, four or sometimes five different actions in a single possession, tiring out the defense and opening the lane for a layup. With just 24 seconds to do so, they move at a blistering speed.
Tremendous coordination and decision-making allows them to adapt to defenses on the fly and almost always make the defense pay for leaving someone open.
This patience combined with constant movement results in a beautiful offense that produces a lot of points.
The Pacers were slept on by most of the NBA world for the majority of the regular season. They don’t rely on crazy scoring heroics from one or two players, instead opting to run circles around NBA defenses in the most literal sense possible.
They’ve proven that a modern NBA offense can dominate without flashy isolation scoring or stepback threes. What is yet to be seen is just how well it will fare against the OKC Thunder on the NBA’s biggest stage.
James Parker is an NBA writer for Ball Exclusives, follow him on X @TheJames_Parker
