There was a question of whether the Pacers would play the Cavaliers or 76ers until the final day of the regular season, with the Cavaliers securing the 4 seed. Which team was your preferred round 1 matchup and why?
Furr: The 76ers, obviously. You’re crazy to want otherwise. LeBron has ended approximately 214 Pacers seasons. I could do without that again.
Matthes: Bring ‘em on! I’d have rather played Philly, I’m just not convinced they’re going to be a good playoff team, and that they mopped up on tired or subpar competition to close the year. Miami, with their experience, is going to be a tough team for the Sixers. But it should be a good series with the Cavs.
If you want to be the best, you got to beat the best, right? And there are none better than LeBron. This is Indy’s, what?, fourth crack at him in six years. It’ll be interesting to see which of Cleveland’s supporting cast steps up to be LeBron’s number 2. But there’s intrigue on the Pacers too, which Myles will show up? Will the hot shooting of Bojan and DC keep up? It’ll be fun.
Hughes: The easy answer is Philadelphia, as they are the least experienced and don’t have LeBron James. But it’s hard for me because I could totally see Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid dominating despite their age and lack of experience.
More from Pacers News
- 2 Studs, 1 dud from gut-wrenching Indiana Pacers loss to Charlotte Hornets
- Handing out early-season grades for Pacers’ Bruce Brown, Obi Toppin
- 3 positives, 2 negatives in Pacers In-Season Tournament win vs. Cavaliers
- 2 positives, 3 negatives from first week of Indiana Pacers basketball
- Should Isaiah Jackson’s days with Indiana Pacers be numbered?
Gun to my head, I’d still prefer Philly. They’d be a safer bet because of that lack of experience and the fact that Indiana has played them pretty well this season. Cleveland has LeBron, and the Pacers have seen enough of him in the postseason. The team around him may not be too good, and their team defense has sucked, but I still foresee them kicking it up a notch.
East: It was a lot closer than me than for most people. There is a reason that the Cavs won less games than the Sixers, and I know trades rectified some of those reasons, but I still think that the “who would I rather see the Pacers play?” question was close. That said, I think these two team are the best two in the Eastern Conference. So either one is tough. I would rather see the Pacers play against the best players, and thus I would rather see them face off with LeBron James and Cleveland, but I think they would have had a better chance of winning against the young Sixers.
Gibson: The 76ers. While they clearly are playing great basketball, I just don’t trust youth in the playoffs. While Indiana is actually a younger team (by the averages) all the starters but Bojan Bogdanovic have playoff experience. The bench has guys like Lance Stephenson and Cory Joseph who are post-season tested. I don’t think that makes Philadelphia a push-over, but I’d almost always bet on the more experienced team.