Qualified success
The Pacers most certainly had their backs to the wall as they geared up for Game Four of the East Finals yesterday. It wasn’t simply that they faced the heavily favored Celtics in aiming to avoid a sweep. It was that they needed to overcome the absence of top dog Tyrese Haliburton due to injury. And for all their relentlessness regardless of circumstance, their inability to stay even keeled in the crunch in the immediate past match of the best-of-seven series underscored their need for his leadership.
Granted, the Pacers have the talent to put up numbers on the board even with Haliburton sidelined. Likewise, their predisposition to run at every opportunity places their personnel in prime position to produce. Meanwhile, there is reason to argue that they’re even better on defense sans the newly minted All-NBA third-team selection. Which, for all intents, was why they not only managed to keep pace with the Celtics in Game Three; they actually led heading into the final minute.
The story, of course, is that the Pacers failed to claim the set-to all the same. When the pace of play slowed to a half-court drawl, as is to wont to happen when the pressure is on, they missed a steady hand to direct them. And, needless to say, Haliburton would have been able to provide that steady hand. Hindsight offers 20/20 vision, to be sure, but it’s fair to argue that they would not have been compelled to take a poor shot and then force the issue in their last two possessions with the outcome on the line had he been on the court.
Considering the stakes, the Pacers did extremely well to keep Game Four competitive from opening top to final buzzer. Notwithstanding their handicaps, they even seemed to place some distance between them and the Celtics as the fourth quarter progressed yesterday. Unfortunately, they succumbed to tightness as the clock wound down. Ill-advised attempts and unforced turnovers in the waning minutes betrayed their relative lack of fitness in staying ahead under duress, allowing the Celtics to bring out the broomstick.
Some time from now, when the wounds of an empty conference finals showing will have healed, the Pacers should be able to set aside the countless What Ifs and make a measured assessment of their 2023-24 campaign. And, after all the counting and accounting, they will invariably come to the conclusion that it was a qualified success. There can be no doubting that they made significant strides, and they appear poised to move even farther ahead with a healthy Haliburton at the helm. Experience is the best teacher, and the hope is that they learned from it well enough to do better the next time around.
Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994. He is a consultant on strategic planning, operations and human resources management, corporate communications, and business development.
