Rise and Fall of the 2013-14 Indiana Pacers

Thread

Today, I'm gonna look back at the 13-14 Pacers team and how they went from having the best record in the league in March to nearly losing in the 1st round and eventually failing to make the Finals

In the years leading up to the 2013-14 Season, the Pacers continuously improved

in 10-11 they made the Playoffs for the first time since 2006

in 11-12 they made the 2nd round

in 12-13 they made the ECF where they went to 7 with LeBron's Heat

The Pacers were a young team led by 23 year old Paul George who established himself as a Star in the league

23 year old Lance Stephenson was starting to emerge as a borderline star, they had one of the best rim protecting bigs and an all-star Roy Hibbert

They had a reliable veteran Forward David West and George Hill in the starting line-up also

Luis Scola, CJ Watson, Mahinmi and Danny Granger were their key bench players to start the year

After losing Game 7 in 2013 ECF, this season, the Pacers were confident that if they get homecourt advantage in the Playoffs, they would end Miami's reign of the Eastern Conference

And they actually did, they went 56-26 and got the 1 Seed over Miami by 2 Games

However their season ended by the same Heat team again as the Pacers lost in 6 games

Now if you just look at the Record and the fact that they made ECF and only lost to LeBron you'd think this was a successful season for Indiana. They won more games and simply lost to the best player in the world

However

The Pacers started the season playing unreal basketball

They were 16-1 in their first 17 games

In March they were 46-13 and had the best record in the league

Their expectation was to win the entire thing, not lose in the Playoffs let alone ECF again

The Heat were there for the taking in 2014 because as great as LeBron was the team as a whole were more fragile than ever during that 4 year span of him there

Indiana had their opportunity, but they messed it up and there was one trade in mid season that they shouldn't have made

on 20th February 2014, the Pacers traded Danny Granger for Evan Turner

Granger may have been past it due to injuries, but it was a bad trade because Granger was the veteran presence and glue that kept the team together

The Pacers were 15-13 after they made that trade

initially, it didn't seem like this trade was a big deal because they went 5-0 in their first 5 games

but after that they finished the season 10-13

Yes the 1st seed lost 13 games in a 23 game stretch

Indiana's final 23 games of that regular season

They had 4 separate losing streaks (2 or more losses)

10 of their 13 losses came by double digits

Just a horrid stretch to end the season

The only reason the Pacers even got the 1 seed was because the Heat went 11-14 in this stretch themselves

the Heat had nothing to prove in the RS though, their focus was on the Playoffs from the start whereas Indiana made it clear they were going for the 1 seed

One key reason beyond Granger's trade why Indiana fell off so bad was that their Center Roy Hibbert played horrendous down the stretch

In the final 23 games he averaged this
8.6 PPG 4,2 RPG 37.6 FG%

He lost all of his confidence and was unplayable at times

A 7 footer barely even averaged 4 rebounds a game

Hibbert was an All-Star selection that year due to his great play leading up in the 1st half of the season, this decline was crazy and one of the fastest declines of a player in NBA History

Paul George's play was also really bad during this 23 game stretch

he put up 19 points on 37%, however PG was just having a bad stretch, he'd respond in the Playoffs unlike Hibbert who never ended up regaining his early season play

This is how David West and Paul George felt after the Danny Granger trade

This move clearly affected the Pacers in a very bad way because they lost their leader

Indiana didn't have many vocal leaders so trading Granger made no sense

Although Indiana maintained the 1st seed to end the season, not many people believed that they could win

Some thought they were destined for an early Playoff exit and that nearly came true in the 1st round

In the 1st Round, the Pacers faced the 38 win Atlanta Hawks who were missing Al Horford and got taken to 7 Games

Although Indiana won this series, they were very unconvincing doing so

The Pacers would lose Game 1 at home and quite convincingly actually

they'd bounce back in G2 but lose G3

They'd win G4 to get homecourt back but would get smacked in Game 5 (they were down 30 in the 3rd QTR)

Indiana would face a 3-2 series deficit having been destroyed by a 38 win team in their own arena in Game 5

Indiana would win a close Game 6 though and eventually close the series out in 7 behind Paul George's 30 points

Paul George wasn't a problem in this series he averaged 24/10/5 on 46/40/82% splits and was great in Games 6 and 7

However, Roy Hibbert was so bad that Stephen A Smith called him worse than Kwame Brown

- Hibbert averaged 4/3 in the first 6 games and had B2B 0 pt performances

In the 2nd Round, Indiana would face a young Wizards team and would get tested again

Pacers played better here though winning the series in 6

Pacers would lose Game 1 again, but would respond with 3 straight wins including coming back from 19 down to win Game 4 in Washington to go up 3-1

Paul George had 39 points in G4

Roy Hibbert also showed signs of resurgence averaging 19/8 in those 3 wins

But Indiana couldn't keep up consistent play losing by 23 in Game 5 at home

They would close Washington in 6 though winning Game 6 93-80 behind David West's 29

Despite all the bs within the Pacers, they still made it to the Eastern Conference Finals to face the Heat and had homecourt advantage going into it

In the end they got their wish and got to face the Heat in a series holding home court advantage

The Pacers won Game 1 relatively comfortably but would lose a close Game 2 which gave Miami homecourt advantage

Miami won Games 3 and 4 and Indiana faced elimination facing a 3-1 deficit

Worth mentioning

in Game 2, Paul George was playing with blurred vision down the stretch after banging his head into Wade's knee

Indiana would lose this game after the Heat came through in the closing stages

So facing elimination with a 3-1 series deficit, the Pacers were surely down and out right?

Well it looked like it when Miami took a 9 pt lead at the Half after outscoring Indiana 26-11 in the 2nd

However

Paul George would have an iconic 2nd Half performance leading the Pacers to a 93-90 win in Game 5

But in the end, the Pacers stood no chance back in Miami losing Game 6 by the score 117-92

Indiana's season would be over and they'd get eliminated by the Heat for the 3rd straight season

Miami were definitely beatable that season and it was seen as a failure for Indiana to lose that series

Indiana had a great chance, but messing around trading their locker room leader was a big mistake and it led to them looking very unconvincing down the stretch

And yes they made the Conference Finals, but the level of competition leading up to it just wasn't great

They were supposed to beat the Heat that year

After 2014 season, Lance Stephenson left and Paul George broke his leg missing all but 6 games of the 2015 season

Paul George would play 2 more full seasons in Indiana but wouldn't get past the first round

To this day Indiana haven't won a Playoff series since their 2014 Playoff Run

End of Thread