Pacers aiming for a top-4 seed as final stretch begins
By TYLER SMITH (@TylerSmith_ISL)
ISL Editor
INDIANAPOLIS — The NBA Trade Deadline and All-Star Break have both come and gone, and it’s officially time to start thinking about the playoffs. After a 10-15 start to the season, the Indiana Pacers turned their season around and now find themselves as the current No. 4-seed in the Eastern Conference with 29 games to play. The Pacers will spend a lot of time at home in the coming weeks, and that’s where they’d like to spend the majority of the 1st Round in the Postseason as well.
“You want home-court advantage,” said Pascal Siakam after a recent practice. “Being in the playoffs, that’s what you want to do. And we should be aiming for that. That should be our goal.”
Gainbridge Fieldhouse was electric last year in the playoffs, and the home crowd helped guide the team in gold to the Conference Finals. The Pacers went 6-0 at home in the first two rounds, before battling the Celtics in two close home losses in round three.
Over the final 29 games of the season, the Pacers will play 18 games at home and just 11 on the road. They currently hold a one game advantage for fourth over Milwaukee, a team who just lost Bobby Portis to a 25-game suspension. The Pistons have been strong in 2025 and are two games behind the Pacers.
According to PlayoffStatus.com, the Pacers have a 51% chance of finishing 4th in the East, a 22% chance of finishing 5th, a 10% chance of finishing 6th, and a 5% chance of slipping to 7th. They give the Bucks a 20% chance of catching Indiana, while the Pistons have an 11% chance. Milwaukee has the 7th most difficult strength of schedule remaining, according to ESPN, while the Pacers have the 19th most difficult schedule the rest of the way.
The Pacers open up this final stretch with a four-game home-stand against the Grizzlies, Clippers, Nuggets, and Raptors. A 3-1 or 4-0 start would go a long way in their pursuit of playing Game One in Indy this April.
The front office elected to keep this team together instead of making another splash at the Trade Deadline. We’ll see if the extra rest this past week will rejuvenate this group after some tough travel to Paris and out West. This team wants to be clicking on all cylinders heading to the Playoffs, and staying healthy will be one of the most important goals. I personally feel similar about this team as I did last year’s group: A first round loss or deep playoff run might be just as likely.
Bottom line: This team has a chance to do something special once again. Enjoy the ride.
