The Indiana Pacers can clearly keep getting away with this

USA Today

22-05-2025

The Indiana Pacers can clearly keep getting away with this
Good morning, Winners! This is For The Win's daily newsletter, The Morning Win. Did a friend recommend or forward this to you? If so, subscribe here. Here's Mike Sykes.
I need a little help here. Do the Basketball Gods hate the Knicks or love the Pacers? I'm not sure. But whatever the case may be, it got us a ridiculous finish in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals.
The Pacers were down by 15 points with five minutes left in the game before Aaron Nesmith turned into prime Reggie Miller and hit five 3-pointers to bring the Pacers within five points.
Add in a couple of missed free throws from Karl-Anthony Towns and OG Anunoby and a bit of devil magic from Tyrese Haliburton (HOW DID THE BALL BOUNCE LIKE THAT?!?) and we get overtime. The Knicks are lucky Hali didn't step an inch further back — the game would've ended right then and there if his shot was ruled a 3-pointer.
THERE'S NO WAY: The Pacers' odds to win were laughably long before the Knicks' collapse
I usually don't like pulling out the "Team of Destiny" card, but I don't know what else to call Indiana at this point. We might as well hand the Pacers the Larry O'Brien trophy now — they keep pulling off the impossible.
In the last 30 years, teams that have trailed by seven or more points in the final 50 seconds of a game are 4-1,702. The Pacers have three of those wins and they've all come within the last month. What might be just as unbelievable as that stat is that Tyrese Haliburton is now 12 of 14 on shots to tie or take the lead in the last two minutes of games this season. He's been as close to automatic as you can get in the clutch for his team this year.
Things are not supposed to work this way. Clutch minutes are supposed to be random and incalculable. Yeah, you're inevitably going to hit some big shots in these moments if you keep finding yourself in them. But to do it every single time, seemingly without fail? That's otherworldly.
I've been trying to think of how to explain this for weeks. Part of it is excellent coaching — we've got to give credit where it's due. Rick Carlisle is an incredible coach with his fingerprints all over this team. They press you full-court all game long without fouling. They execute out of timeouts without flaw. The players are so disciplined. Everyone knows their role and knows what to do when their moment comes.
We don't know how this run will end, but Carlisle has led a team like this to the promised land before. The 2011 Dallas Mavericks weren't supposed to be NBA champions. That team wasn't really an underdog — it was a 57-win No. 3 seed. But no one thought it'd beat Kobe Bryant's Lakers. No one thought it'd beat Kevin Durant's ascendant Thunder. Certainly, no one thought it'd beat LeBron James and the Miami Heat. But every step of the way, that team found a way. These Pacers feel very similar.
But that only gets you so far. Great coaching gets you far, but doesn't always carry you through. I want to say the rest feels like dumb luck, but that almost feels disrespectful because, again, the Pacers keep doing this. We can't call it a fluke anymore.
This team never stops playing. The time and score don't matter — Indiana keeps going until they find a crack in the glass. Once they find that crack, they keep beating it until the glass shatters. That was what Aaron Nesmith's barrage of 3-pointers was. Maybe you brushed off the first shot. Maybe you were impressed by the second one. But by the time he hit his third 3-pointer, you knew the Pacers would find a way to win the game. They knew it. The Knicks knew it. I knew it sitting at home. You probably did, too.
I have a feeling that we'll probably keep feeling this feeling until they're hoisting a trophy up at the end of the season.
SGA = MVP
Well, we finally know who the MVP is, folks. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander officially won the award on Wednesday. Call him a free-throw merchant if you want — this guy is the most valuable player in the NBA. That's awesome.
He also gave one of the sweetest MVP speeches in recent memory. He thanked his teammates, his friends and his parents, naturally. But when he got to the part thanking his wife, he lost it.
Shai still has some basketball left to play and is undoubtedly hoping to grab more hardware this season — we'll see how that goes. Regardless, this is a well-deserved moment for the OKC guard.
Push on
The Tush Push lives to see another day. The Packers' ban needed 24 votes to go into effect, but the motion only received 22, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter, with these teams voting against it:
Shoutout to those squads for not being losers. This isn't quite over just yet, though. Our Christian D'Andrea says that, considering 22 teams voted in favor of the ban, this will probably come back again eventually.
"22 votes in favor suggest the issue isn't settled yet. Another year of easy Eagles conversions or a serious injury on the play could lead to another vote next spring. A revised rule change with clearer language could turn two of those 10 "no" votes into yesses. But for now, Hurts can line up under center on third or fourth-and-short knowing he's still got his full playbook available."
There's not enough of a consensus to ban the play, but there's certainly enough of one to keep the conversation going. Honestly, this is exhausting. But we're probably going to be right back here next year.
Quick hits: Hali's dad strikes again ... Humble beginnings ... and more
— Tyrese Haliburton's dad wasn't at the game, but he definitely brought that Pacers energy to the bar he was at. Meg Hall has more.
— The Golden State Valkyries got their first win! Here are 7 photos from the moment. What a time for that franchise.
— RIP Jim Irsay. The NFL world reacted after learning about the Colts owner's death.
— Shai Gilgeous-Alexander isn't the free throw merchant you think he is. Prince Grimes has more on that.
— Reggie Miller calling the Knicks game is wild. The 90s babies know what I mean. It also made for a great broadcast.
— This is fun, but Karl-Anthony Towns is patting the wrong guy on the chest.
That's a wrap, folks. Thanks so much for reading. Peace.
-Sykes ✌️