Inside look at Pacers’ faster-than-expected rebuild
NY Post
It was a scary leap of faith when Indiana finally took the plunge into a rebuild.
It’s brought the Pacers here — into the second round against the Knicks, their first Eastern Conference semifinal in a decade. And they’re not content.
“You talk about getting to the playoffs, and it’s like in college when you have a really good team and you talk about getting to the Final Four. And then all of a sudden, just getting to the Final Four is where your expectation was, you’ve got to think bigger than that,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. “I’ve said for two years now we’re a franchise with big dreams. And we don’t know exactly where this is going to go from here … [but] you have to have big dreams and aspirations to continue to grow and to continue to push yourself.”
Those dreams required letting go of their delusions.
Rebuild is a four-letter word in the NBA, but the Pacers president Kevin Pritchard and general manager Chad Buchanan acknowledged that’s exactly what they needed.
At the 2022 trade deadline the Pacers dealt big man Domantas Sabonis to Sacramento for Tyrese Haliburton.
RALEIGH, N.C. — Igor Shesterkin and the Rangers have experienced it from all sides the past three springs. They have overcome a 3-1 series deficit by winning an overtime Game 7 at home. They have overcome a 3-2 deficit to win a Game 7 on the road. They have lost a 2-0 series lead in dropping four straight. They have lost another 2-0 lead before losing in seven. And they have swept.