Pacers' troubling stat shows NBA Cup may be trickier this season

The Indiana Pacers' 2024 NBA Cup group has been revealed, and everyone has already circled one matchup. In fact, it may be the only matchup that can give Indiana some competition in their group and keep them from going back to Vegas.

Before you ask, the NBA Cup is the new name for the In-Season Tournament, and it is now sponsored by Emirates Airlines. Despite the concept only being a year old at this point, the Pacers already have a strong history in the IST. Of course, no fan can forget their undefeated run in Group Play, followed by defeats of the Celtics and Bucks, only to match up with and lose to the Los Angeles Lakers in the finals.

It was this very matchup with Milwaukee that sparked a rivalry that got put on the broiler in December, boiled into January, reached a sort of stalemate in February, and erupted during a first-round playoff series, which Indiana won. In total, the Pacers held a record of 4-1 against the Bucks in the regular season and beat them 4-2 in the playoffs, ending with a fantastic 8-3 record against one of the most built-up teams in the league.

The group makers had this in mind when they made the new groups, as Indiana and Milwaukee have been put in the same group, meaning they will be fighting each other for a chance to go to Vegas, and only one of them can make it. This matchup should absolutely be on national TV, as this rivalry is known not only to Pacers and Bucks fans but to fans of the league in general. To leave this game off national TV would be a crime.

The Pacers can't repeat past bad habits to succeed in the NBA Cup

Outside of the Bucks game, the Miami Heat matchup may be the only other game that gives Pacers fans a scare, since they are the only other playoff team in the group and have given Indiana trouble in the past. However, that does not mean Indiana has two byes against Detroit and Toronto. While these teams will not be great next year, this is a good test to see how the Pacers have matured since last season.

The Pacers had by far the worst record against below-.500 teams of any playoff team last season. Two of these losses came to Toronto, who is bringing back basically the same core next season. While the Raptors are not poised to make much noise this season, they will still be a good test to see if Indiana will fall back to their inconsistent ways against losing teams, or if they turned over a new leaf and plan to win the easy games, thus improving their record so much more than last season.

As for Detroit, the Pacers went undefeated against them last season with every win being by eight or more points. This is perhaps the most extreme test, as there is no excuse to lose to the Pistons, even with their new addition of Tobias Harris. If the Pacers are serious about competing for playoff success this upcoming year, they will not slack off against the Pistons and Raptors and win the easy games when they are given to them. As for the Bucks and Heat, these should be good matchups against potential playoff opponents, especially the Bucks game.

In-Season Tournament, NBA Cup, whatever you want to call it, the Indiana Pacers will enter with a mission. That mission is simple, to prove to the rest of the league and fans that they are not a fluke team and surprise everyone once again. Some agendas need to be flipped, and it is up to the Pacers to flip them.