What the NBA Finals can tell us about how close the Pacers are to title contention

The Pacers got swept in the Eastern Conference Finals against the Boston Celtics. Despite that, the Pacers had leads late in three of the four games. You can make an argument that they should have won all of those games. Obviously they didn't, and that's why they're sitting at home.

Now the Celtics have a 2-0 lead in the NBA Finals over the Dallas Mavericks. Game 1 wasn't particularly close while Game 2 only got close briefly in the last 90 seconds. So what does this tell us about a Pacers team that pushed Boston to the brink in every game?

Before we get into it, we have to address the fact that Boston didn't have Kristaps Porzingis for the entire Conference Finals. He has played well in both games and clearly makes a difference for Boston. At the same time, the Pacers didn't have Tyrese Haliburton for either Game 3 or Game 4.

The Pacers are closer than people think to an NBA title

One thing we've seen from the Finals that tells me that the Pacers are closer to an NBA title than people think is the lack of offense from Dallas. The Pacers were close in every game with Boston because they were able to blitz them with offense from every player on the floor.

Dallas is struggling in a big way from an offensive standpoint. They haven't even cracked 100 points yet. Indiana has the best offense in the NBA. It's clear that good offense gets you closer than good defense to winning a title in today's NBA.

Indiana needs to just be a little better on defense to truly contend for a championship. They are a lot closer to representing the East than the rest of the NBA thinks. Offense is a lot harder to build than defense is. They might only be one or two pieces away from a title.

How this Finals is playing out should encourage Pacers fans that their team is an upper-echelon team. A good offseason could make things even better.