Pacers Clinch Play-In Playoff Berth With Impressive Win Over 76ers

INDIANAPOLIS – In one of their finest defensive performances of the season, the Indiana Pacers got a great win and clinched their spot in the play-in tournament for the 2021 postseason.

By holding the Joel Embiid-less 76ers to just 32 second-half points, the Pacers erased a 13-point halftime deficit for the 103-94 victory.

With the win, the Pacers (33-36) have locked a spot in the play-in part of the playoffs.

Sweeping this Monday/Tuesday back-to-back looked pretty bleak at halftime.

But by packing the lane in the second half, Indiana put up a tremendous half of basketball defensively.

Caris LeVert rebounded from a struggling start to make some big shots late, leading Indiana with 24 points.

Domantas Sabonis had another triple-double, scoring 16 points, dishing out 15 assists and grabbing 13 rebounds.

Doug McDermott got the start and scored 20 points.

Indiana was without the following guys: Myles Turner (toe), Malcolm Brogdon (hamstring), Jeremy Lamb (knee), Edmond Sumner (knee) and Aaron Holiday (toe).

In going a bit bigger in the second half, the Pacers controlled the glass in outrebounding the 76ers by 10 for the game.

The Pacers have three regular season meetings to try and climb into that 7-8 part of the play-in game.

As a reminder, this is how the play-in format will work:

-7 seed vs. 8 seed, with the winner locked in as the 7 seed.

-9 seed vs. 10 seed, with the loser having their season over.

-Then loser of 7/8 vs. winner of 9/10 for the 8^th and final seed in the playoffs.

Three Things Learned

1. A Win To Remember: In a week filled with plenty of turmoil, the Pacers got one of their best wins of the season. Yes, Joel Embiid was resting, but it’s still noteworthy for a banged-up Pacers team to erase a 16-point deficit on the end of the floor that’s plagued them all season long. Who knows what this mean for the next week? But in a season that has had more downs than ups, this comeback was something to remember. Especially on a back-to-back, missing multiple key guys, the Pacers beat a much more talented team. This is probably the best home win of the season for Indiana.

2. Potential First-Round Matchup: The Pacers have a lot of work to do to still get there, but if they do make the actual playoffs, their likely opponent would be the 76ers. Obviously, that matchup would be less than ideal, for many reasons. The 76ers appear to be pretty healthy and have a unicorn big man in Joel Embiid. In the only meeting Embiid played against the Pacers this season, he scored 24 points and had 13 rebounds in three quarters (with Myles Turner playing). The length of 76ers wings have been an issue for the Pacers handling the ball, committing 19 and 17 turnovers in the two prior losses to them earlier this year (13 on Tuesday night). Again, the Pacers would still need to win two play-in games for such a first-round series to even be possible.

3. Losing Dan Burke: In facing the 76ers this season, the Pacers see former assistants Dan Burke and Popeye Jones. The loss of Burke has been widely debated this season. Since 1997, Burke was an assistant for the Pacers, an incredible run, spanning numerous coaches. Burke is known for his defensive focus, which is an area the Pacers have struggled mightily in this season. Nate Bjorkgren has wanted to change the defensive approach, being more attacking on the catch and pressuring the ball much closer out on the perimeter. He also has been much more willing to switch within possessions and change up defenses during a game (as we saw on Tuesday night). Personnel wise, the Pacers just don’t have the athleticism to pull this off at a high rate. The recent injury to Myles Turner hasn’t helped things either. How big of a loss has Burke been (the 76ers rank 6^th in points allowed whereas Indiana ranks 25^th)? How will we see the Indiana defense change moving forward? Those are key offseason questions to resurrect a staple of the past two decades.

Pacers Remaining Schedule

-Bucks (Thursday, 5/13 at 7:00 PM)

-Lakers (Saturday, 5/15, TBD)

-@Raptors (Sunday, 5/16, TBD)

Eastern Conference Playoff Picture

1. 76ers (47-22, .681)

2. Nets (45-24, .652)

3. Bucks (44-25, .638)

4. Knicks (38-31, .551)

5. Hawks (38-31, .551)

6. Heat (38-31, .551)

Play-In Teams