Mini-Tank? A plan of action if the Pacers fall too far behind the Celtics

The Indiana Pacers slipped into fifth place, but aren’t settled into a playoff spot. If they fall further behind, they should consider a mini-tank job.

There are no moral victories, but even in the loss, the Indiana Pacers looked like they could make a series of a first-round meeting against the Boston Celtics.

The Celtics win put them ahead in the standings for now but both teams have similarly difficult schedules to finish the season, and Indiana only needs to get one game ahead of Boston to regain home-court advantage. They still should fight for 4th place in the Eastern Conference.

But if their fate is sealed, or appears that it is, they may want to think about resting their players, and if they want to think even deeper, they might consider a mini-tank job to end the season.

Resting is obvious, but why would they want to lose a few games to end the regular season?

The Pacers could draft as high as 18th

While Indiana should fight for home-court advantage if they can get it, they might want to know when to have a tactical retreat. When you look at the upcoming draft and the potential order of picks, you’ll notice there is a log-jam around the 18th to the 23rd pick.

As of Saturday morning, only two games separate the Oklahoma City Thunder, San Antonio Spurs, Los Angeles Clippers, and Utah Jazz, as well as the Pacers and Celtics.

The good thing for Indiana is all four of those Western Conference teams are in their own fight for playoff position unless they really want to play the Golden State Warriors or Denver Nuggets in the first round. They likely want to win their remaining games and won’t be locked into a spot for at least a few more games.

With six games left, and potentially Boston and Indiana soon locked into their positions, Indiana could rest their starters and give Aaron Holiday, Alize Johnson, Edmond Sumner, and Davon Reed plenty of playing time to finish the season.

So if the Pacers lose too many games before their next meeting with the Celtics on April 5 — or lose to them then — they could try to move up the draft order.

While the latest Sports Illustrated mock draft has several centers going around the 18th spot, it’s still in Indiana’s interest to have a higher pick.  The Pacers could always trade back and pick up an asset if needed, and in any case, they would have more control over the draft fate the higher up they are.

Again, this isn’t what the Pacespendsould do now, as the home team has won each game so far in the Indiana-Boston series, but it’s worth considering if home court advantage is no longer a possibility.