With just a little over a month left in the regular season, the Indiana Pacers will soon turn their attention to the postseason, where they will look to replicate their success from last year.
During the 2024 NBA Playoffs, despite entering as the No. 6 seed in the Eastern Conference, the Pacers made it all the way to the conference finals for the first time in a decade. Despite ultimately getting swept by the eventual champion Boston Celtics, many (including Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla) would tell you that the Pacers gave them their most difficult challenge of the playoffs. Nearly a year later, the Pacers look like a threat once again.
As things stand, the Cleveland Cavaliers, Celtics, and New York Knicks occupy the top-three spots in the Eastern Conference. Barring some unforeseeable circumstances, this is unlikely to change. As for the No. 4 seed, however, that is a different story.
The Pacers, Milwaukee Bucks, and Detroit Pistons are all within one game of each other in the standings. Whoever comes out on top will earn home-court advantage, which is often essential for postseason success. Luckily for the Pacers, they are in a good spot that keeps getting better as they inch closer to the playoffs.
Pacers have an easier remaining schedule than the Bucks and Pistons
According to Tankathon.com, the Pacers have the 11th-easiest remaining schedule in the NBA. As for the Bucks, they currently have the sixth and 16th-most difficult remaining schedules, respectively. Furthermore, the Pacers have already finished their season series against Detroit, winning three of their four games. They have two remaining games against Milwaukee (one at home and one on the road), but they are already down 0-2 in the season series.
While this on its own will not guarantee that the Pacers finish with the best record of the three teams, it is still an encouraging sign regardless. They are already one of the hottest teams in the league in 2025 (only three teams have had better records than the Pacers since the turn of the calendar), and they may be getting a big break thanks to the schedule-makers.
As they approach the end of the season, every game from here on out is incredibly important. If they can land a top-four seed in the East, they will secure home-court advantage for the first time since 2020 (2014 if you want to exclude The Bubble). This can help them go a long way in the playoffs. They are already a tough playoff opponent. Having home-court advantage should make them even bigger title threats.