The young Indiana Pacers were not ready for the bright lights
By Ryan Stano
The Indiana Pacers had late leads in three games of the Eastern Conference Finals. In each of those games, they should have been able to close it out to win. Rick Carlisle blew Game 1 and Game 3 after not calling timeouts in critical situations. In Game 4, they collapsed again.
In all three games, the Pacers looked frantic in the final minutes. They didn't know what they should have done to close it out. What that led to was getting swept in the Eastern Conference Finals and the end of their season. It's not how things were supposed to end.
What this did show us is that the young Pacers weren't ready for the moment yet. They weren't ready to win big and play for an NBA title. A more experienced team is able to finish each of those games. If they weren't so un-clutch, they'd have a 3-1 lead right now going back to Boston.
The Indiana Pacers got much-needed playoff experience
Despite the fact that the Pacers will be going home disappointed with how the season ended, it was still a successful year. They hadn't been to the playoffs since the 2020 bubble year. No one expected them to make the Eastern Conference Finals. It was a good step for a young team.
The next step for this team is to learn from this failure. They should have been better, but they will learn from this. Most of their core is young and they will only build from this. Sometimes you have to build scar tissue in order to win on the biggest stage. This is the scar tissue they now have.
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Indiana made it further than anyone thought they were going to. They exceeded expectations. While it hurts now, the Pacers are going to be a contender in the East for a long time.