With less than a month left in the regular season, the Indiana Pacers are primed for another playoff appearance. After shocking the basketball world and making it all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals last year, the Pacers are currently in a three-way battle for the No. 4 seed and homecourt advantage with the Milwaukee Bucks and Detroit Pistons.
While it remains to be seen if the Pacers have what it takes to replicate last year's playoff success this year, there are reasons for fans to be excited going into the postseason. Tyrese Haliburton has played great basketball since the All-Star break, and the starting five--now with Aaron Nesmith once again--are gelling at the right time.
However, despite the Pacers' success in 2025 and their hunt for homecourt advantage, head coach Rick Carlisle is already switching things up and going back to what worked last year. Whether it is the right decision or not remains to be seen, but it has the potential to work once again, and it may lead to the Pacers making another surprising playoff run this year.
Rick Carlisle is playing Bennedict Mathurin and Jarace Walker less
In a bit of an interesting move, Carlisle is opting to play Mathurin and Walker significantly less. Mathurin, who has started 45 games for the Pacers this season, played a combined 27 minutes in the team's last two games. Additionally, he has played fewer than 30 minutes in each of his last four.
As for Walker, while his playing time has been inconsistent all season, he is playing even less than he did previously. The second-year forward has not played any of the Pacers' last three games and has logged double-digit minutes in just five games since the start of February.
This Carlisle decision is likely far from a coincidence. Like he did when he chose to re-insert Nesmith into the starting lineup over Mathurin, Carlisle is choosing to get back to what worked in the playoffs last season when the Pacers made the conference finals. Last year, Mathurin missed the entire postseason with a shoulder injury, and Walker played fewer than 10 minutes in all nine games he appeared in.
It seems like Carlisle will put his trust in the vets once again and hope that the team can replicate the same playoff magic they did last season. Of course, the regular season is not over yet, and things can change. However, as it stands, Pacers fans should expect to see a lot of the same lineups that led the team to the conference finals less than a year ago.