The Pacers Have Always Been Just Good Enough to Fall Short. Could This Year Be Different?

After decades of near-misses and never-quite-fulfilled promise, Indiana finally has a chance to channel its dynastic past — and become great by beating greatness.

Tyrese Haliburton of the Indiana Pacers celebrates with the Bob Cousy Trophy after the 125-108 win against the New York Knicks in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals. (Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)

Once upon a time, the Indiana Pacers had a professional basketball dynasty.

As charter members of the upstart American Basketball Association, Indy quickly assembled an impressive group of talent, both among those who spurned the NBA for the ABA — Mel Daniels, Freddie Lewis, Bob Netolicky — and those who were unfairly kept out of the more established league — like Roger Brown and, later, George McGinnis.¹ In 1969, their second year of existence, the Pacers made the ABA Finals (but lost to the Oakland Oaks). In 1970, they breezed through the ABA playoffs with a 12-3 record to win their first-ever title; then they won again in 1972 and 1973, to make it three championships in four seasons.

Getting to the Finals again (but losing) in 1975, the Pacers had made five appearances in the championship during the first eight seasons of the ABA’s existence, winning three times. By the end of the ABA’s run in 1976, Indiana was the most successful team in league history by championships and Finals appearances, with the second-most wins (behind the Kentucky Colonels). After being one of four teams absorbed from the ABA into the NBA, the Pacers had reason to think they would be able to compete for more titles, even after losing the core of the dynasty from a few years earlier.

Unfortunately, though, that marked the end of Indiana’s championship era — and the beginning of a long stretch where the Pacers were often decent, occasionally dangerous, but rarely incredible, and never for very long. Not once have they come close to recapturing the magic of their ABA glory days. But now, as Indy heads into the 2025 Finals against the mighty Oklahoma City Thunder, they have a chance to reverse those decades of frustration with the franchise’s long-awaited first NBA title.

To establish just how consistently fine — but not spectacular — the Pacers have been over the years, here’s a plot comparing every NBA team’s total playoff wins to its average regular-season Net Rating since the modern playoff format began in 1984: