Fans of the Pacers respond to the 2024 season and playoff run

Indianapolis, Indiana – Despite losing to the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals and missing out on the NBA Finals, a lot of Indiana Pacers supporters took the team’s season and postseason performance as encouraging signs for the future.

The Celtics defeated the Pacers 105-102 after trailing by nine points in the fourth quarter, winning four games in a row and advancing to the NBA Finals. With 24 points, Andrew Nembhard led the Pacers, and Pascal Siakam finished with 19 points and 10 rebounds for a double-double.

The team’s all-star guard, Tyrese Haliburton, missed his second straight game due to hamstring strain in his left.

The Pacers are currently rebuilding, so Steven Harrison, a fan, expressed his surprise that the team advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals so quickly.

Harrison emphasized that “the highs have been really high and sometimes the lows are low” as he compared being an Indiana Pacers fan to riding a rollercoaster.

“As a fanbase, we should be very proud of our team,” Harrison said. “Making it to the Eastern Conference finals is a really big deal and it can really help lure in some bigger free agents and some targets here to just keep hopefully making deeper runs into the future.

Sam Cornett, a Pacers supporter, thinks the team went above and above this season.

“I think they’ve got a bright future ahead of them,” Cornett said. “I think they have a solid core. A solid young core. If they could pick up a few role players that come off the bench, that would be a huge for them. And I think it will definitely carry them into next year.”

According to Nick Ciuffetelli, the Pacers should give Siakam’s contract an extension as a top priority. This transpires subsequent to his January trade from the Toronto Raptors to the Pacers. Nembhard has arrived “clutch,” according to Ciuffetelli, and Halliburton has “taken the next steps.”

“We’re here. We’re here for the next five or six years,” Ciuffetelli said. “It’s going to be a great couple of years here in Indy.”

In the NBA Finals, the Dallas Mavericks and the Minnesota Timberwolves’ victorious Western Conference Finals series will play the Celtics. The fourth game of the series, which the Mavericks are leading 3-0, is scheduled on Tuesday against the Timberwolves.