4 Pacers (and NBA) records that could be broken this season
By Scott Conrad
3. Most assists by a team in NBA history
Last year's best offense in the league was the Pacers. They scored the most points and recorded the most assists in the NBA thanks to Haliburton and company. They also had the highest field goal percentage, too.
The most intriguing stat is their assist total. They averaged 30.8 assists which is the third-best ever in NBA history. The Milwaukee Bucks had 2,562 team assists in the 1978-79 season. That was the record until the Los Angeles Lakers broke it with 2,575 six seasons later.
Indiana was just 53 assists from tying the all-time best amount. That means if the Pacers added just one more assist in 65% of their games last season, they would have the new record.
The good news for Pacers' fans is that under Rick Carlisle in his second stint, the Pacers' assists per game have gotten higher in the past two seasons. They had nearly 25.5 in Carlisle's first year back.
They followed that up nicely by averaging 27 assists a game the next year. The increase Indiana saw was even higher than the year before as they jumped up to almost four more assists per contest.
Haliburton has missed at least a dozen games or more in each of the past two seasons. This Pacers squad is primed to make another big offensive splash. Setting the new league high in team assists would be historic, for sure.