INDIANAPOLIS – Indiana Pacers center Myles Turner was still full of conflicting emotions after the Eastern Conference finals.
On one hand, Turner – the team's longest-tenured player, drafted by Indiana in 2015 – called this season an incredible journey. After missing the playoffs the previous three seasons, the Pacers won their first playoff series in more than a decade and reached the Conference Finals for the first time since 2014.
But the fact that the Pacers led in the fourth quarter in three of their four losses to the Boston Celtics still stung as players left the arena Monday night after losing Game 4 105-102 to clinch Boston's series victory.
“It's still fresh for all of us,” Turner said. “It's very frustrating to have all these games in hand and then let it slip away.”
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Indiana played the last two games without star guard Tyrese Haliburton, who was out with a left thigh injury, but the Pacers didn't use his absence as an excuse, especially because the Pacers knew they had a chance to win multiple games in the series.
According to research by ESPN Stats & Information, the Pacers had at least a 90% chance of winning in the fourth quarter of Games 1, 3 and 4. They lost all three games.
In Game 1, they led 117-114 with the ball and 9 seconds left. In Game 3, they were ahead 109-101 at home with 2:25 left. And in Game 4 on Monday, they were up 98-90 with 5:40 left, but failed to score in the final 3:30 minutes.
“For a young team like us, this experience in the playoffs is unmatched,” said Pacers guard Andrew Nembhard, who scored the most points on his team with 24 points. “A lot of things were our first time. A lot of little things that we maybe wanted to do better, and we learned how these games go and what it feels like to be in a series.”
Yes, the Pacers had a roster full of players making their first playoff appearances, like Nembhard, Haliburton and Aaron Nesmith. But veteran Pacers forward Pascal Siakam, who won the championship with the Toronto Raptors in 2019, stressed that it's not a given that Indiana will get that chance again.
“I can tell you we're going to learn from this and it's going to happen, but it's not guaranteed,” Siakam said. “I know how hard it is to get to this point. It's unfortunate. You want to give the other team credit for taking advantage of every mistake we made. They did a good job.”
“But for us it was tough, one heartbreaking loss after another. Yes, that encourages you and you hope to put in the work necessary to keep getting better. Because we have to get a lot better if we want to keep up with these teams. And you have to understand that no matter how well we played, we didn't get there.”
Siakam, who will be a free agent this summer after coming to Indiana via a trade during the season, declined to comment on his future but stressed several times that he was grateful to have felt supported during his time in Indiana.
“It's been a blessing,” Siakam said. “I'm really grateful for everything. Considering where I come from, it means a lot to me.”
The Pacers established themselves as one of the league's breakout teams by advancing to the In-Season Tournament Finals in early December. They posted 47 wins and secured the 6th seed in the Eastern Conference, while Haliburton was named an All-Star starter and named to the All-NBA third team.
“It's still fresh for all of us,” Myles Turner, the Pacers' longest-tenured player, said after Game 4. “It's very frustrating to have all these games in hand and then let it go.” Trevor Ruszkowski/USA TODAY Sports
Indiana picked up two series wins during this playoff round by surprising a higher seed. The Pacers beat the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round and the New York Knicks in the conference semifinals.
The Pacers were also lucky with injuries and had to play against Milwaukee without Giannis Antetokounmpo, while the Knicks' Jalen Brunson, OG Anunoby and Josh Hart were out due to injuries in the second round.
The Pacers then had to deal with injuries of their own in the conference finals, as Haliburton suffered a left thigh injury in Game 2 that sidelined him for the rest of the series. In his first 15 playoff games, Haliburton averaged 18.7 points and 8.2 assists.
“Ty never got rattled, man,” Turner said. “Whatever teams threw at him, he found a way.”
Ultimately, Indiana couldn't get over the loss of its star player enough, but as the Pacers players grappled with their emotions about the end of the season, they repeatedly emphasized how far they had come in such a short time.
“We grew as teammates all year, we grew as a whole culture,” Pacers forward Obi Toppin said. “It felt like everyone gave everything they could every day to support this organization. Obviously, the season didn't end the way we wanted it to, but there was a lot of good that came out of this season. And we don't want to overlook that.”
“It's been a big year for the Pacers and the entire organization, so we don't want to overlook that.”
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