As the end of the season approaches, the Indiana Pacers find themselves in a three-team battle for the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference, which would give them homecourt advantage in the first round of the playoffs. In addition to Indiana, the Milwaukee Bucks and Detroit Pistons are fighting for that spot as well.
After sitting as the No. 5 seed for a while, the Pacers are finally back to the No. 4 spot. They are 0.5 games ahead of Milwaukee and one game ahead of the Pistons in the standings. As it stands, the Pacers control their own destiny and could secure homecourt advantage. However, there is a major problem standing in their way that does not bode well for their playoff success, no matter where they are in the standings.
The Pacers may have a big challenge in the first round of the playoffs
If the season ended today, the Pacers would enter the playoffs as the No. 4 seed and take on the Bucks. This would be a rematch from last year's first-round matchup, only the Pacers would be the team with homecourt advantage instead. On paper, this is a good deal for Indiana. They defeated the Bucks last year in the playoffs and would be in a better position to do it again. However, the Bucks have had their number all season.
The Pacers and Bucks have already had their four regular season matchups already. In those games, the Bucks went 3-1. Additionally, the Bucks won all three of their games by seven or more points, whereas the Pacers won their sole game of the season series by one point. While Indiana's victory was meaningful (and proved that they are a feared team in the clutch), this still does not bode well for them.
For further context, the season series was flipped last year, with the Pacers finishing 4-1 over the Bucks. Indiana still matches up well with the Bucks, especially when fully healthy, but this is still a concern regardless.
There is a lot of basketball left before the playoffs start, and the Pacers are in a good spot to compete and make a deep playoff run for the second year in a row. Furthermore, luckily for them, the regular season does not matter anymore once the playoffs come around. The past is the past, and it is all about the present and future. However, this is still something to keep in mind regardless as the Pacers could have a season-ending problem on their hands.