With just a couple of weeks left before the end of the regular season, the Indiana Pacers have a great chance to duplicate last year's playoff success. The Pacers are in sole possession of the No. 4 seed and are even within striking distance of stealing the No. 3 seed away from the New York Knicks. After making the conference finals last season, the Pacers are looking to have another deep playoff run.
The Pacers are still one of the top offenses in the NBA, and they have even improved a lot on the defensive side of the ball. Additionally, because they mostly have the same roster from last year's conference finals team, the Pacers have better chemistry, and that shows on the court.
All things considered, Pacers fans should be excited about the team's outlook for the playoffs. They are already a feared playoff opponent, and they are even better than they were last year. However, the Pacers still have some flaws that do not bode well for the playoffs, and there is one in particular that head coach Rick Carlisle must turn around before it is too late.
The Pacers' offensive rebounding might be their Achilles heel
A lot has been said about the Pacers' poor rebounding. For the last few years, they have regularly ranked near the bottom of the league in rebounds per game. That is no different this season, as their 41.2 rebounds per game ranks as the second-lowest in the NBA (only ahead of the Philadelphia 76ers).
Most of the Pacers' lack of rebounding is simply due to their scheme as center Myles Turner is a perimeter-centric big man. However, a lot of it also falls on Carlisle. According to Cleaning the Glass (subscription required), the Pacers are holding teams to a 12.5% transition frequency. This is the lowest mark of all teams in the NBA, meaning that the Pacers choose to stop transition over crashing the offensive glass more than any other team. Furthermore, the Pacers' 8.9 offensive rebounds per game ranks as the second-worst in the league (only ahead of the Milwaukee Bucks).
The Pacers' lack of offensive rebounding on its own is not a big problem. So far, it seems to be working fine for the team as they are still finding success in the regular season regardless. However, this will be a risky tactic in the playoffs once the Pacers go up against the best teams in the NBA.