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That feeling that the Indiana Pacers could have been in the NBA Finals

By Ben Gibson

CLEVELAND, OH - APRIL 29: LeBron James #23 of the Cleveland Cavaliers dives for the ball in front of Bojan Bogdanovic #44 of the Indiana Pacers during the second half in Game Seven of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals during the 2018 NBA Playoffs at Quicken Loans Arena on April 29, 2018 in Cleveland, Ohio. Cleveland won the game 105-101 to win there series. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
CLEVELAND, OH - APRIL 29: LeBron James #23 of the Cleveland Cavaliers dives for the ball in front of Bojan Bogdanovic #44 of the Indiana Pacers during the second half in Game Seven of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals during the 2018 NBA Playoffs at Quicken Loans Arena on April 29, 2018 in Cleveland, Ohio. Cleveland won the game 105-101 to win there series. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) /
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As the Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers battle in the NBA Finals, it’s hard for Indiana Pacers fans not to wonder if their team could be there.

As the Cleveland Cavaliers are tied with the Golden State Warriors around halftime of Game 1 of the NBA Finals, it’s hard to shake the feeling that the Indiana Pacers could be there instead of LeBron James and his crew.

The Pacers were a better team than the Cavaliers, even if they weren’t better than LeBron.

Sure, it took seven games for the Cavaliers to beat the Boston Celtics, but after their Game 1 and 2 wins, it was clear LeBron controlled the series as much as he could as an individual, even if he couldn’t control the final outcome. And as it turned out, he did control it.

In aggregate,  The Cavaliers won their series by just six points against the Celtics.  While points don’t matter like games do, and the transitive power of wins is far from reliable, Indiana outscored the Cavaliers by 40 points in their series means something, even if it isn’t meaningful.

And Indiana didn’t get punked by 56 points in four games like the Toronto Raptors against Cleveland, that’s for sure.

This ignores that the Raptors and Celtics presented worse matchups for the Pacers than Cleveland did, but we didn’t see anything from those two teams in the regular season that definitively says they would beat Indiana in a seven-game series.

I’m not evening saying for sure that Indiana beats either of them in a playoff series, but after watching the Pacers test the Cavaliers like no other team in the East did — for the second season in a row — it’s hard not to think about the what-ifs.

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This isn’t to diminish what was a successful season for Indiana when you remember they weren’t expected to compete at all, but in some multi-verse right now, the Pacers advanced past the Cavaliers and then on to the NBA Finals.

Of course, there is likely only a handful of alternate realities where the Pacers would beat the Warriors in the Finals, but it isn’t insane to think Indiana could have at least been there if one or two shots fell in the opening round.

The Warriors are likely winning their third title in four years and the Pacers likely wouldn’t stop that, but the possibility of being there is something that will linger in fans minds at least until October.

Indiana turned what could have been a major setback in their franchise’s history into a positive thanks to Victor Oladipo becoming an All-Star and Domantas Sabonis finding is groove this season. That in itself is special and made this season worth every moment even if it ended in the first round.

This wasn’t a nightmare scenario, but a hopeful dream.

Of course, if you told me last July that this would even be a possibility, I’d have laughed in your face and mocked your naïve hope.

Next: Can Indiana find value with the 50th pick?

Indiana is still a few moves and a little luck away from being a true title contender, but after seeing how they pushed the Cavaliers to seven games, it’s hard not to wonder if they could have snuck their way into the Finals this season.

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