Indiana Pacers: Does starting 2-0 mean something?

For just the 15th time in franchise history, the Indiana Pacers have started a season with two consecutive wins.

After one of the strangest years in the history of sports (really, the planet), the 2020-21 NBA season finally began on December 22. The following night, the Indiana Pacers opened their season with a 121-107 home victory over the New York Knicks. The Pacers made it back-to-back wins to start the campaign with a 125-106 win over the Chicago Bulls on Saturday.

Fans and experts alike tend to overreact in the early stages of a season. Teams are nowhere near their peak and a number of things can happen in terms of rosters and personnel as the regular season progresses. Basically, the first two games of the season mean nothing.

Or do they…?

This season is the 54th year the Indiana Pacers have fielded a team. The first nine seasons were played in the ABA with the last 45 coming as a member of the NBA. In all 54 of those seasons combined, 2020-21 is just the 15th time that Indiana has begun their campaign with back-to-back victories.

The last time it happened was 2013-14, a nightmare in the minds of Pacers’ fans. The team won the first nine games of the season en route to a 56-26 record and the top seed in the East. That was in spite of some roster maneuvering late in the season that led to a second-half collapse and a 4-2 series loss in the Eastern Conference Finals to the Lebron James-led Miami Heat. The only other time Indiana began the season 2-0 and reached the Eastern Conference Finals was in 1994-95.

Prior to the Pacers joining the NBA in 1976-77, the franchise won the first two games of the season four different times. The first two games in franchise history both resulted in a win way back in 1967-68. They did not win their first two games of an NBA season until 1980-81 when the Pacers went on to a 44-38 mark and their first NBA postseason appearance.

Just twice has Indiana won the first two games of a season and gone on to have a record below .500 for the season. The first came in 1981-82 when Johnny Davis led the Pacers to a 35-47 record under Head Coach Jack McKinney. Indiana finished with a 36-46 record in 2007-08 after winning the first three games of the season.

So, does the 2-0 start mean something?

Probably not. However, that does not mean the games and results were not important. Domantas Sabonis and Myles Turner showed they might work on the same roster against the Knicks. The bench showed the Pacers can do have some depth in Chicago. Victor Oladipo is showing glimpses of his old All-Star self and when T.J. Warren is on, good luck beating the Pacers. Plus, the games were entertaining.

Those are the things that matter, not the 2-0 start. Although, no one will be upset if the wins keep coming.