It has been the past 25 years! This team has stopped in the Eastern Conference Finals 4 times, and now it has full advantages. This year is the best time!

With Thales Halliburton's three-pointer in the last minute, the Pacers once again defeated the Cavaliers and have now achieved a 2:0 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinals. It should be noted that the victory in these two games was achieved at the Cavaliers' home court, and they have already gained an absolute advantage in this round. More importantly, the Pacers team is in excellent condition and the overall structure is also very reasonable. They have a good chance to reach the Eastern Conference Finals again and have the hope to return to the finals stage again. It has been 25 years since they last entered the finals. In these 25 years, they have entered the Eastern Conference Finals four times, but they have all returned in vain. Now it seems that this year is definitely the best time. Let’s take a look at how the Pacers performed in the previous 4 Eastern Conference Finals!

1.2004 Eastern Conference Finals

The final result: Pacers 2:4 Pistons

First of all, the Pacers' overall lineup this year was very good. The young Jermaine O'Neal and Ron Artest were already All-Star stars this season, especially O'Neal Jerry had 20.1 points, 10 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 2.6 blocks in the regular season. He was the power forward second only to Dirk Nowitzki, Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett at the time. Arte contributed 18.3 points, 5.3 rebounds, 4.7 assists and 2.1 steals, becoming the DPOY winner that season. In addition, veteran Reggie Miller is still in the team. Although the data has dropped to 10 points, 2.4 rebounds and 3.1 assists, everyone knew at that time that when it was a critical moment, he was still the most terrifying killer in the league. In addition to Jamal Tinsley, Jonathan Bend, Al Harrington, Fred Jones and others, the Pacers scored an excellent record of 61 wins and 21 losses in the 2003-04 season. In the playoffs, they also defeated many strong opponents in a row and eventually met with the Pistons in the Eastern Conference Finals!

The Eastern Conference Finals this year can be said to be the most anxious time in previous years. Both teams focus on defense, but the result is that the highest score of the two teams in a single game cannot even reach 90 points. In the first game, O'Neal scored 21 points, 14 rebounds and 2 blocks, making Da Ben's luxurious data of 11 points, 22 rebounds and 5 blocks the background board. But the Pistons quickly made adjustments and took a big lead in the last two games in a row. Fortunately, in the fourth game, Atai stood up, scoring 20 points, 10 rebounds and 4 assists in the game, plus Miller's 15 points, they finally managed to limit the Pistons' scoring to 68 points, dragging the game into the Battle of Tianwang Mountain. However, the critical fifth game was like a replica of the fourth game. Richard Hamilton scored 33 points alone, while Rashid Wallace had 22 points and 8 rebounds. The two dominated the internal and external lines respectively and grabbed the match point. The final sixth game was even more tragic, with the score between the two sides only 69:65. The Pistons found an opportunity in the last quarter. Hamilton scored 9 points in the last quarter and finally successfully eliminated the Pacers. He staged a very exciting showdown in the finals, defeating the arrogant Lakers and winning the championship.

2.2013 Eastern Conference Finals

Final result: Pacers 3:4 Heat

After 2004, the Pacers did not return to the stage of the Eastern Conference Finals until 2013. At that time, they had already completed the reorganization. The core of the team became Paul George and Roy Hibert. In addition, they were paired with George Hill, David West, Lance Stephenson and other strong players. This season they successfully won the third place in the Eastern Conference, and also defeated the more favored Knicks in the semi-finals, and finally met the Heat, which had 66 wins and 16 losses this year. The Pacers performed very well this year, and they played until the tiebreak battle, and they regretfully lost to the Heat. Hibert basically dominated the inside in this round, averaging 22.1 points, 10.4 rebounds and 1 block per game. At that time, fans were also nicknamed "Black Yao Ming", while George contributed 19.4 points, 6 rebounds and 5.1 assists, while West made steady output of 16.6 points, 8.9 rebounds and 1.7 assists. They have put huge pressure on the Heat. George, in particular, not only was he selected to the All-Stars in the next season, but he also became one of the best small forwards in the league, so although they lost the series this season, such a young lineup at the time, they saw hope.

3. The final result of the 2014 Eastern Conference Finals: Pacers 2:4 Heat

. The Pacers did not disappoint. They once again performed well in the 13-14 season. George averaged 21.7 points, 6.8 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.9 steals per game in the season, and has become the top ten stars in the league. Unfortunately, Hibert began to experience a significant decline this season, and the team's advantage in the inside began to decrease, but even so, they still scored 56 wins and 26 losses in the East, and eventually beat the Heat and ranked first. In the playoffs, they defeated their rivals all the way, and finally met the Heat again on the stage of the Eastern Conference Finals. At the beginning of this round of series, the Pacers had a certain advantage. George scored 24 points in the first game. In addition, a total of 6 players in the team scored in double digits, and finally got a good start. But after this game, they seemed to be unable to play anymore, and the Heat directly scored three consecutive games to get the match point. Although they narrowly defeated their opponents by three points in the fifth game, they won a game back. But in the sixth game, they were defeated and said goodbye to the Eastern Conference Finals this year. And what is even more unexpected is that Hibert and George directly had a big conflict. The core players ran away one after another this year, and George was seriously injured during the training camp for the US team. Since then, the Pacers have entered silence again.

4.2024 Eastern Conference Finals

Final Results: Pacers 0:4 Celtics

After this, the Pacers returned to the Eastern Conference Finals stage until last year under the leadership of Thales Halliburton and Pascal Siakam. In fact, last year, just like this year, there were almost no media and fans optimistic about the Pacers, but they beat the Bucks and Knicks respectively, and still reached the Eastern Conference Finals despite Halliburton's injuries. Moreover, facing the later champion Celtics, although they were swept out, they put huge pressure on their opponents in the first game and gained a huge lead in the first three quarters. Unfortunately, they failed to withstand the pressure in the end and unfortunately lost in overtime. In the second game, Halliburton had to withdraw from the game due to his worsening injury. Therefore, although Sika scored 28 points, she was still unable to turn the situation around and was defeated by her opponent again. It was precisely because of the loss of Halliburton that the Pacers' threat was greatly reduced in the last two games, and they were eventually swept by the Celtics. However, in this round of the series, the Pacers still tapped a lot of potential points, such as Nembahard, who scored 32 points and 9 assists in the third game, veterans Miles Turner and Siakam who performed stably throughout the playoffs, etc. This made the Pacers firmly determined to keep them, which is the key to their rise again this season.