The Indiana Pacers should make the playoffs, but who they may face is much more of a mystery.
If the playoffs started today, the Indiana Pacers would be the 7th seed, traveling to Toronto for an opening series on the road against the Raptors. However, only 5 games separate the 3rd seed in the Eastern Conference (the Atlanta Hawks, at 41-29) and the 9th place team (the Detroit Pistons, 36-34).
The Indiana Pacers are only a game ahead of a second straight heartbreaking 9th place finish, and missing out on the playoffs entirely. They’re also only 3.5 games away from having home court in the first round of the playoffs and ESPN gives them a 95.1% chance to make the playoffs.
The standings rarely are so volatile this close to the playoffs, but Pacers fans have a reason for optimism: with 12 games remaining, only 3 of those are against teams with winning records (possibly 4, as the Rockets are currently 35-35). The Pacers have a relatively easy remaining schedule, and should be able to stay in the playoff hunt and possibly even make up some ground.
Given the volatility of the standings, it’s impossible to predict where the Pacers will land (and it is still possible that they’ll miss the playoffs), but we’re going to take a very brief look at possible opponents, positives and negatives of each, and what the Pacers chances might be.
NBA Eastern Conference Standings | PointAfter
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