„Well, we’re the uninvited guest,“ Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. „So here we are, OK.“
The Indiana Pacers are headed back to the Eastern Conference finals and don’t plan to slow down when they get there.
Not when they are so good at playing fast.
Indiana put up some of the best offensive numbers in NBA history during the regular season by pushing the tempo. The pace is rarely as quick in the playoffs, but don’t tell the Pacers that slow and steady is the only way to win this race.
“I think slowly we’re changing the way of thinking in the NBA that playoffs you have to play slow,” point guard Tyrese Haliburton said, “and we’re able to just continue to be who we are.”
They were the best-shooting team in NBA playoff history Sunday in Game 7 at New York, making 67.1% of their shots in a 130-109 victory over the Knicks.
That sent the Pacers to Boston to play the top-seeded Celtics. who ran away to the best record in the league and were expected to be playing in the conference finals.
Indiana was a surprise, the No. 6 seed in the East and a team that needed to prove the way it played in the regular season could be effective in the postseason.
“Well, we’re the uninvited guest,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said.
