Indiana Pacers: How the last 8 playoff teams would fare in a tournament bracket
(1) 2013-14 Indiana Pacers vs. (5) 2018-19 Indiana Pacers
West and Lance Stephenson catapulted the 2014 Pacers to a defensive 96-87 victory in Game 1. West once again dominated in Game 2, scoring 22 points while Hibbert tallied seven blocks to win 95-84 and take a 2-0 series lead.
Matthews and Turner kept things close in Game 3, but Stephenson and CJ Watson delivered the goods for the 2014 Pacers in the fourth frame to win by 14 as they inched towards a series sweep. In Game 4, down 94-86, the 2019 Pacers then held the 2014 squad scoreless in the final 3:48, ending the game on a 9-0 run to stave off elimination, punctuated by Collison’s game-winning layup in the final seconds.
The 2014 Pacers found themselves down by as much as 19 in the third quarter, but Hill led the comeback to force overtime. However, the 2019 Pacers once again escaped with a 110-102 win to avoid elimination. In a tightly-contested Game 6, Bogdanovic exploded with six three-pointers and Turner swatted six shots to force a do-or-die Game 7. Facing insurmountable pressure, the 2014 Pacers led at halftime, but the 2019 Pacers pulled off the impossible, winning 106-100 in a thriller behind Turner’s 24 points and six blocks to overcome a 0-3 deficit and eliminate the top-seeded 2014 squad.