By figures: how the offense Tyrese Haliburton and Pacers accumulate against the Lakers of the “Showtime” of the 1980s

THE Indiana Pacers were the essential team of the Nba eliminations series. They dazzled us with impossible feedback, breathtaking game winners, striking dams and fast-grid clinics. Now they are only a victory for a trip to Nba Finals.

They did it as seeded n ° 4 after their conference final race in the sixth seeded in 2024. But we saw enough of this team to know that it is not only another cute “Cinderella” race. They are contenders for the legitimate title, even with the Thunder hiding place. Indiana can close the Knicks In match 5 of the Eastern Conference final on Thursday evening.

For the Pacers and their top scorer, Tyrese HaliburtonIt is an offensive mastodon with the production and the flair which competes with the `Showtime ” LakersWho owned the League in the 1980s. Nor is a hyperbole.

The “Showtime” Lakers are the Order Stallion (Violet and) for offensive success. They led the NBA in an offensive note five times during a section of nine season from 1979 to 1980 to 1987-88, when they won five NBA championships.

It is difficult to believe that the Pacers are anywhere in their stratosphere, but the figures do not lie. Indiana has played 31 games in the last two playoffs. These are enough data to know that the figures they put night after night are not a stroke of luck.

Sharp of the playoffs

The Pacers have an average of 116.0 points per game in the last two seizure stations, the most by any team in a period of two seizure positions (minimum 20 games) since the 1986-1987 Lakers, which set up 118.3.

The Indiana also resumed a notch in 2025 after putting us into note in the last season. The Pacers are on average 118.5 points per game in playoffs. The last two teams to strike this figure into a single qualifying series (minimum 10 games) were 2017 Warriors and 1987 Lakers.

You’d better not turn your eyes, because the appropriate -named pacers have set up points in a hurry. They scored 80 in the first half of match 4 against the Riders on the last round. Aaron Nesmith made six three consecutive to the fourth quarter of match 1 at the Knicks to make a historic return when they were hanging out in the last minute.

The Pacers won three games in the playoffs when they hang out at least seven points in the last minute of the fourth quarter or overtime. All the other teams have had a victory in these places since the game data per game was preserved for the first time in 1998.

How could a team overcome the chances that are impossible to win not once, not twice, but three times?! It is this historical offense.

Historical shot

The Pacers draw 50.4% of the field in the last two seasons, the best rate by any team in a period of two positions (minimum 20 games) since the 1987-1988 Lakers (50.9%).

It’s crazy. It has been 37 years since we saw a team hit half of its shots for two playoffs, and the Pacers did it at a time when the 3 points represent 38% of their shooting attempts. The shot beyond the arc represented a little less than eight percent of the shots by the Lakers of 1987-1988.

The Pacers have also pulled more than 50% in the field in each of the last two seasons. Before that, no team has made half of their shots in a eliminatory race (at least 10 games) since 1991 Bulls.

Lakers reached 50% of their shots in six consecutive positions from 1982 to 1987, so Indiana did its job to match this sequence.

Propelled by the rhythm and the passage

The Pacers are on average 29.3 assists per game in the last two seasons, most of them by a team in a period of two seizure positions (minimum 20 games) since … you have guessed it … These Lakers “ Showtime ” of the 1987-1988 season.

The passing prowess of Indiana are highlighted by its 16 games with more than 30 assists in the last two seasons. No other team has more than five in this period. They have seven games with more than 30 assists and less than 10 reversals. No other team has as many playoffs with these figures in their franchise history.

According to some measures, this pacers offense not only exceeds “Showtime” Lakers but any other team. They have the highest offensive note (119.6) by any team over a period of two dishes since the merger of NBA-ABA in 1976-77 (minimum 20 games).

Pacers in the last two seizures

No, the pacers are not the Lakers’ ” Showtime ”, but at least in attack, they have the firepower to do what Los Angeles did five times in the 1980s – win a championship.

Lakers’ Showtime ” vs. Pacers: Number Number Number Number

In addition, the cherry on the top is the trigger for each offense. In many ways, Haliburton plays like a modern magic Johnson. The figures, the clutch game, the staging and the flair for the dramatic are all behind.

Magic vs Hali: first 29 career playoffs

Many people consider thunder as inevitable after a historic season led by a relentless defense. But the pacers show that they would be worthy of competitors, and their offense against the defense Thunder would make a heckuva match to watch.