Thunder Daunting Task For Pacers, Rick Carlisle Has Done This Before

INDIANAPOLIS – Tyrese Haliburton couldn’t sleep after the Indiana Pacers’ victory on Saturday night. His team had just defeated the New York Knicks to win the Eastern Conference Finals, clinching only the second NBA Finals appearance in franchise history — and Haliburton’s mind was racing.

He kept thinking about the moment, a victory over the Knicks that gave the Pacers their second-ever NBA Finals berth. Then, as his team collectively had to do as they walked off the floor Saturday night, he began to think ahead to his next obstacle. Haliburton and the Pacers will take on the Oklahoma City Thunder in the championship series, and the All-NBA guard lay awake as his brain power shifted toward OKC.

“I think part of it was due to excitement and part of it was due to, ok what are we preparing for?” Haliburton said of his wandering thoughts. “I’m really excited to be a part of [The Finals], it’s gonna be a lot of fun.”

For the Pacers, it’s the toughest test that this postseason can provide. The Thunder rolled this season, winning 68 games in the regular season and owning the league’s best net rating by far. Their defense is spectacular. Their offense is explosive.

In the regular season, OKC won both meetings between the two teams. One of them, a somewhat recent duel in March, was a blowout. The other was close and saw a strong Thunder run be the difference late.

However, those games didn’t feature full rosters, and the Pacers have since evolved. A midseason surge propelled them into the postseason with momentum, and they’ve continued to improve with each round. While OKC presents the most formidable challenge yet, Indiana has vaulted every barrier so far.

“It’ll be a daunting challenge, but a great one,” Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle shared on Tuesday.

The Pacers know that the Thunder’s defense is what makes them elite. Their defensive rating in the regular season was 2.5 points per 100 possessions better than any other team. In the playoffs, that level has been maintained — they have been one of three teams with a postseason defensive rating under 110 and the only team under 105.

The volume of high-level defensive players on the Thunder’s roster is staggering. Chet Holmgren, Isaiah Hartenstein, Lu Dort, Alex Caruso, Jalen Williams, and Cason Wallace are all positives on the defensive end, and many of them are All-Defense level stoppers

“They’ve got a lot of individually good defenders, and when they come together as a group, it makes a good team defense,” Pacers guard Andrew Nembhard explained of the Thunder’s defense. “Athletic, versatile, physical. They pose a few problems.”

Oklahoma City forces a ton of turnovers and overloads ball handlers. There isn’t much open space on the floor. Passing and ball movement, two Pacers strengths, are vital for success in the matchup.

“They’re super physical, they’re annoying,” Pacers forward Obi Toppin joked of the Thunder defense. “They’re young, and they’re just in your mess… but we’ve got [defenders] like that too.”

Indiana’s offense has been fantastic in the postseason. That has to continue in the NBA Finals if they are going to win the series. Guard Ben Sheppard explained that the Pacers can’t be sped up in the Finals, they have to play their way and limit turnovers. They need to play to their strengths.

The Thunder can score, too, while the Pacers are an improved defensive group. Because of their collective peak, Oklahoma City is the favorite everywhere – ESPN had 23 experts predict the result of the series and 20 picked OKC. Their defense is the leading factor in that thinking. It will be an uphill trek for the blue and gold. Insert head coach Rick Carlisle, who has completed said trek before.

What does Rick Carlisle mean to the Pacers in this series?

Multiple times in the ongoing playoffs, Carlisle has recited a line about the Pacers being an underdog in almost every game. In 2011, when he coached the Dallas Mavericks, he reached the NBA Finals and was going against LeBron James and the Miami Heat. And the Heat, who had other stars, were big favorites.

That series was the first Finals Tyrese Haliburton and Myles Turner remember watching closely. Turner, a Dallas native, followed it as a hometown fan. Haliburton, a LeBron fan, was emotionally invested for other reasons. But both were locked in.

Carlisle’s Mavs didn’t play like underdogs. They won the second game of the series on the road and kept fighting, putting Miami on the back foot multiple times. “I hated Rick for that,” Haliburton said through a big smile.

Turner was more elated at the time as Dallas kept winning. The Mavericks finished out the series in six games, and Carlisle won his first title as a head coach.

“Rick proved [with] Dirk (Nowitzki) and the rest of his team, just that at the right time, anybody can get hot,” Turner shared.

Carlisle, who is about to participate in his sixth finals in some capacity, knows what it takes to overcome a major challenge on the biggest stage. He threw wrinkles at the Heat and set his team up for success. Some of his adjustments are still talked about to this day. His past experiences will be critical on this stage, and they also give the Pacers confidence they can win this best-of-seven.

Still, there are no guarantees. Even the best coaches can only do so much. But in the face of an imposing opponent, Carlisle brings calm and credibility. His Finals performance in 2011 changed Haliburton’s perception of him.

“The fact that I’m here with him now is pretty full circle,” Haliburton said. “It’s really cool to be a part of this with him.”

The two are partners, a necessity for a point guard and coach. They reached this stage after years of building, but there has always been internal belief that the Pacers are this good.

Oklahoma City is loaded. Haliburton surely realized that while his mind raced in bed. But history shows that the Pacers can win this NBA Finals, and that they have the right people to do it.