How should the Indiana Pacers' 2025 playoff run be remembered?

The NBA season has concluded after an epic Finals, with the Thunder capturing their first championship in what many considered a surprisingly hard-fought seven-game series. Historically, when a team makes it to the Finals and falls short, their playoff run—or even their entire season—tends to be overlooked. However, the Pacers deserve significant credit for their impressive performance, as they overcame incredible odds, featuring players who deserve more recognition going forward. Despite their loss, the Pacers' remarkable playoff run should be celebrated as one of the best in NBA history.

Several players deserve a ton of credit for the Pacers' success this season, due in large part to their commitment to playing team basketball. Still, arguably no player's profile has risen more than Tyrese Haliburton, who put up a career worth of clutch shots and performances in a single playoff run. Haliburton had three game-winning shots in the 2025 NBA Playoffs. He also had one game-tying shot. He had four instances of a go-ahead or game-tying shot in the final five seconds of a game or overtime in the 2025 playoffs. Each clutch shot became even more spectacular than the last through each round of the playoffs, with most of the shots being scored on the road.

Haliburton averaged 17.3 points and 8.6 assists across 23 playoff games, but his numbers don't speak to the true impact he had for this team in what became the most memorable run in franchise history for the Pacers

In NBA history, numerous championship teams have been celebrated not only for winning the title but also for their remarkable playoff journeys. Teams like the 2011 Mavericks, 2001 Lakers, and 1995 Rockets are admired primarily for their paths to the Finals. Conversely, teams such as the 2023 Heat, 1993 Suns, and 2008 Lakers often go unnoticed because they fell short of winning the championship, despite having incredible playoff runs.

The 2025 Pacers fit into this latter category; they were not favored to win any of the series in all four rounds. Nevertheless, they managed to defeat a Giannis-led Bucks team, a 64-win #1 seed Cavaliers team, and a Jalen Brunson-led Knicks team, ultimately pushing a 68-win team led by the NBA MVP to a decisive Game 7.

One of the most important reasons to appreciate the Pacers' playoff run is that we may never witness something like it again. Throughout each round of the playoffs, the Pacers made several remarkable comebacks, consistently defying the odds. They rallied from being down by 7 points with less than a minute remaining, when victory seemed unlikely. Arguably, their most impressive comeback occurred on the biggest stage, as they overcame a 15-point deficit to take the lead with just 0.3 seconds left on the clock. The improbability of that win cannot be overstated; it marked the latest a team has taken the lead in an NBA Finals game since 1971.

The remarkable achievement of this Pacers team goes beyond the odds they overcame. With Haliburton's unfortunate injury and Myles Turner leaving the Pacers to join the Milwaukee Bucks, the Pacers may never replicate the success of the 2024-2025 season, during which they had a stunning playoff run. As a small-market team with players less familiar to the average fan, the 2024-2025 Pacers embodied everything we love about basketball and sports in general.