True or False: The Indiana Pacers are a lock for the postseason?
Tim Donahue: False. No question, they’ve come a long way, but only two games separate their current 7th seed from the 10th seed. Winning nine games in 10 since All-Star break certainly makes the Pacers’ chances look good, but a magic number of 17 with 18 games left does not make for a lock. It doesn’t help that Boston has won 8 of 13 since the break, and Charlotte 7 of 12. The bar for the 8h seed is slowly creeping higher.
Ben Gibson: Yes. The East is that terrible. At this point Indiana just has to play .500 basketball to keep in the playoffs. It would take both a Pacers fall and a combination of Miami, Boston, and Detroit getting their houses in order to muscle them out. The streak will eventually end, but it has them in great position right now.
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Jon Washburn: True. I’m not even going to couch this argument in any measured sort of way. The Pacers are playing great basketball right now, and they have the look of a playoff team. Their defense has returned to good — and sometimes great — levels. Stuckey is perhaps the greatest minimum-contract guy in the past five years. Vogel is a top-six coach in the league. And Larry Legend still exists.
Jalen Bishop: True. It’s a lock. The Miami Heat aren’t punching their way back in without Chris Bosh. Boston and Brooklyn have not put together winning stretch like Indiana has this season to make believe they can bump the Pacers out. It’s not happening for Charlotte, and Indy will fight for the 7th and 8th seeds.
Whitney Medworth: True. We are now to the point where I would be shocked if the Pacers didn’t reach the playoffs. I can’t give enough credit to Frank Vogel, the coaching staff, and this team for their ability to overcome the odds. They could have quit when Paul George got injured in August. They could have quit when they lost eight in a row in December. But they never let that be their story, and now they’re on the verge of making noise in the postseason.
Next: What Seed Will the Pacers Get?