Pacers/Celtics Preview
By TYLER SMITH (@TylerSmith_ISL)
ISL Editor
INDIANAPOLIS — 48 wins. The 5th Seed. Heavy underdogs. Does this sound familiar?
The Indiana Pacers are in the playoffs once again, and they will once again try to get the first-round monkey off their back as they take on the Boston Celtics. Game 1 is set for Sunday afternoon at the TD Garden.
Indiana has been struggling for a while, especially against playoff-caliber opponents. The Boston Celtics were picked by many to win the East this year, and they’ve played a lot better of late. Without Victor Oladipo, do the Pacers have any real chance in this series?
Kevin Bowen, Tony East, Alex Golden, Mike Facci, Keith Smith, and myself previewed this series in two separate podcasts for “Setting the Pace.” Here are the links-
When you get to the playoffs, you can usually throw the season-series between the teams out the window. But there were a few trends in the season-series to keep an eye on. The Celtics had their most efficient offense against Indiana compared to any of the other 14 playoff teams. The Pacers really struggled in transition against Boston, and they will need to improve in that area to have a chance.
Here are some key quotes from the most recent Pacers practice:
Darren Collison– “I think we’ll be ready. Everybody just has to focus on whatever game is in front of you. Nothing last year matters. Focus on the task. Obviously Game 1 is important, but we need to play possession by possession.”
Tyreke Evans– “It’s going to be a good series. Every possession counts. I’m definitely going to be aggressive. It’s exciting. Our team is excited.”
Nate McMillan– “Even though (Marcus) Smart isn’t playing, that’s a deep team. I don’t think it really changes how they’ll try to attack us.”
Thad Young– “The energy and the vibe has been good. We’ve been waiting on the regular season to be over with. The excitement is here. Everybody is really happy to get to the playoffs. We’ve got to go out there and play Pacer basketball, stay together, and continue to fight through the tough moments.”
Bojan Bogdanovic– “Great place (Boston) to play. They have a great crowd. We are so excited to play them in the first round.”
Thoughts and Prediction– I said all along the Pacers needed to get home-court advantage in order to have a chance in this series. I don’t like the recent trends of these teams, or how the Pacers have played on the road without Oladipo. The good news- this team thrives when they’re underdogs. They’ve also been able to get some much-needed rest, and I think there’s a chance Victor Oladipo makes an appearance on the sidelines in this series to give his teammates a boost. With that said, I still like Boston in 6. I initially had Boston in 5, but with Marcus Smart’s injury- I gave the Pacers another win.
As always, Pacer fans are blessed to have a lot of great coverage of their team. Here are some more podcasts and articles to get you ready for the first-round match-up.
