8p9s Roundtable: What Seed Will the Pacers Get?

Mar 12, 2015; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Indiana Pacers guard George Hill (3) hangs on the rim after dunking against the Milwaukee Bucks at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Indiana defeats Milwaukee 109-103 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 12, 2015; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Indiana Pacers guard George Hill (3) hangs on the rim after dunking against the Milwaukee Bucks at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Indiana defeats Milwaukee 109-103 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports /
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Fill in the Blank: The best matchup in the playoffs for the Indiana Pacers is the ___?

Donahue: It’s really hard to tell, because the George Hill-led Pacers haven’t faced either Toronto or Washington. Based on the performance of the teams over the last few weeks, those would be the ones Indiana fans might want. However, matchups are a big factor in the NBA, and you don’t really know how that will play out until you see it on the floor. It’s a pretty simple equation for Frank Vogel and his charges right now: Keep winning and let the matchups sort themselves out.

Gibson: The Raptors and Wizards aren’t playing at a level that strikes fear into any team right now, and neither team is set up to take advantage of the Pacers. If it comes down to a grit n’ grind game, I’ll take the Pacers over either in a seven-game series.

Washburn: Chicago. They just aren’t a scary team. Sure, they always play hard, and their defense is still elite. But Tom Thibodeau wears them down every season, and despite all their new offensive talents, they struggle to score. I still don’t completely trust Indiana’s “new and improved” offense, and come playoff time, the scoring difficulties will most likely come back. They would be better off playing an opponent that will also struggle to get to 90, and then trust Rodney Stuckey and Mr. West late.

Bishop: Chicago Bulls. Indiana is 2-1 against the Bulls this season, and they can definitely out-ugly them for seven games. Every night would be an ugly shooting fest that would finish in the 80- to 90-point range. If the series happens, Derrick Rose and Jimmy Butler would theoretically be rusty from their recent return from injury, and the Pacers would luck out with their defense closing off their shots. The Pacers are capable of guarding all of the Bulls’ wings and the Pau Gasol/Joakim Noah combo would have do extra on offense.

Medworth: Actually, my answer to this question is any team that does not include LeBron James or the 2015 January Eastern Conference Player of the Month, which just so happened to include the entire starting five of the Atlanta Hawks. The best playoff matchup for the Pacers is to avoid these two teams. This current Pacers team has plenty of playoff experience, they’ve been through a great deal of adversity the past 12 months, and in a still-fairly-weak Eastern Conference, they can beat a 3-, 4-, or 5-seed team.

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