The Indiana Pacers thrilled fans with a magical postseason run that fell one win short of an NBA title.
The Pacers entered the postseason as the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference. They were underdogs in most of their playoff games.
Still, Indiana beat Milwaukee in the first round and knocked off heavily favored Cleveland in the second round. They took down the New York Knicks in six games to set up the franchise’s first NBA Finals appearance in 25 years.
While the magic ran out against the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 7, the Pacers pulled off one astonishing win after another.
These are the Four Miracles of Indiana.
Miracle One: The Blow By (April 29, 2025)
The Pacers held a 3-1 series lead and had the chance to close out the Milwaukee Bucks in Game 5 of their first-round series. A desperate Milwaukee team stormed out to a 17-point lead in the first quarter as the Pacers steadily worked their way back into the game.
Tyrese Haliburton tied the game at 103 with about ten seconds left. All-world scorer Giannis Antetokounmpo missed a 15-footer that would’ve won the game in regulation, sending it into overtime.
Milwaukee took a commanding seven-point lead with 40 seconds left in the extra frame. Andrew Nembhard’s three cut the lead to four.
Timeout, Milwaukee.
Nembhard then stole the inbounds pass and got the ball to Haliburton, who sprinted in for a layup and drew a foul. He sank the free throw to make it a one-point game.
Timeout, Milwaukee.
Facing intense pressure from the Pacers, the Bucks finally inbounded the ball to Kevin Porter Jr. He swung it to AJ Green, who tried to get it to Gary Trent Jr. on the sideline. Trent, who’d made Indiana’s life miserable all night with a barrage of threes, couldn’t handle the pass, which went through his hands and darted out of bounds for the turnover.
Timeout, Pacers?
Absolutely not.
The team used the dead ball to sub Pascal Siakam in for Jarace Walker. With 10.1 seconds left, Haliburton took the inbounds pass and dribbled past midcourt.
A high screen from Siakam had Antetokounmpo, an All-NBA defender, switch to Haliburton. But the Pacers guard hit him with a crossover dribble, got to his right, and blew by Antetokounmpo to hit the game-winning field goal with 1.3 seconds left.
Indiana advances. Milwaukee goes home. Final score: 119-118.
Miracle Two: The Heart-Taker (May 6, 2025)
After winning Game 1 against the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Pacers stared down another huge deficit in Game 2. It ballooned to 20 points in the second quarter, as the top seed in the Eastern Conference dominated Indiana.
The Pacers trailed by 14 points going into the fourth quarter. The Cavs finished the regular season with 64 wins and appeared to be well on their way to evening the series at one game apiece.
Cleveland led 119-112 with under a minute left. Yes, the Pacers had come back, but the Cavs answered each time, including a Max Strus three and free throws from star Donovan Mitchell to keep Indiana at a distance.
When Pascal Siakam drew a foul with 48 seconds left, it looked like the perfect opportunity for the Pacers to score points with the clock stopped.
Siakam proceeded to miss the first free throw.
And the second.
But do-it-all forward Aaron Nesmith crashed in from the top of the key, skied for the rebound, and threw down a vicious dunk. The play stunned the Cavs and their fans. Nesmith’s athletic putback erased Siakam’s free throw misses and made it 119-114.
On the ensuing inbound play, Mitchell caught the ball on the sideline and tried to go through Nesmith, elbows flying. The resulting collision knocked both players to the floor, and the officials whistled Mitchell for an offensive foul.
The call held up on review (Nesmith’s putback dunk had also been reviewed and upheld earlier).
Siakam’s driving layup cut the Cavs’ lead to three, 119-116.
Timeout, Cleveland.
Nembhard stole the next inbounds pass with 27 seconds left. He got the ball to Haliburton, who drove toward the basket and drew a foul with 12.1 remaining.
He sank the first free throw to make it a two-point game at 119-117.
The second one went off the front of the rim; Myles Turner tipped the ball to Haliburton.
Timeout, Pacers?
Absolutely not.
Haliburton backed out toward the top of the key. With Cleveland’s Ty Jerome in front of him, he calmly stepped back and drilled a three with 1.1 seconds left to give the Pacers a one-point lead.
The Pacers take a 2-0 series lead. The Cavs have their hearts ripped out. Final score: 120-119.
Indiana would win the series in five games.
Miracle Three: The Three-Smith Choke (May 21, 2025)
Facing a rowdy crowd at Madison Square Garden, the Pacers dug themselves a hole in the fourth quarter, and it looked like they wouldn’t be able to dig out of it this time. The Knicks led by 14 with 3:44 left and took another 14-point lead with 2:51 left off a Jalen Brunson three.
Haliburton hit a three, the Pacers got a stop, and Nesmith hit from long distance to make it an eight-point game at 119-111. The Knicks kept answering, but the Pacers kept getting the ball to Nesmith, who got on one of the all-time heaters in NBA playoff history.
During the memorable close to the game, Nesmith buried six threes and hit a couple free throws to bring the Pacers back to life. That’s 20 points in the span of about five minutes, and while it’s not 8 points in 8.9 seconds, it sure as heck is just as impressive.
These weren’t wide open looks, either.
The Knicks consistently got a hand in his face and often knocked him down as each unlikely shot hit the bottom of the net.
Nesmith closed out his scoring run with a pair of free throws to make it 124-123 New York.
Siakam fouled OG Anunoby with 7.1 seconds left; Anunoby missed the first but hit the second to make it a two-point lead at 125-123.
Timeout, Pacers?
Absolutely not.
Haliburton raced down the floor, drove into the lane, and then, just as he had against Cleveland, took a step back shot.
This time, the ball hit the back of the rim, bounced straight up, and hung in the air for an eternity until it hit the bottom of the net.
Hali gave the Knicks fans his version of Reggie Miller’s iconic “Choke.”
A review showed Haliburton’s toe was on the line, so the clutch shot “merely” tied the game at 125 instead of winning it. The Pacers captured the overtime period (Nembhard scored seven points and had a key assist) to win Game 1.
The Pacers take a 1-0 series lead. The Knicks cope with “Choke 2.0.” Final score: 138-135.
Indiana would go on to win the series in six and advance to the NBA Finals.
Miracle Four: The Point-Three Killer (June 5, 2025)
In Game 1 of the NBA Finals, the Pacers looked completely overmatched.
The Oklahoma City Thunder, the top seed in the playoffs with an NBA-best 68 wins in the regular season, played at a speed unlike anything the Pacers had faced the entire season.
Watching a team on film doesn’t prepare you for the reality of seeing them on the court. With the raucous crowd at the Paycom Center firmly behind them, the Thunder stormed out to a 12-point halftime lead.
The Pacers kept turning the ball over. In the first half alone, they gave the ball away 19 times against OKC’s smothering defense. They cleaned it up considerably in the second half, finishing with 25 total turnovers on the night.
The Thunder, collected and calm, had just seven turnovers in Game 1.
Oklahoma City extended the lead to 15 points with less than ten minutes left in the fourth quarter. They had a 97.9% chance of winning the game.
The Pacers chipped away. With 2:52 left, the Thunder led by nine after a pair of free throws from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Indiana responded with back-to-back threes from Nesmith and Nembhard to pull within three.
A jumper from Gilgeous-Alexander made it 110-105 with 1:27 left. Nembhard sank a pair of free throws, and the Pacers stopped OKC on the next possession after Siakam blocked SGA.
Nembhard launched a game-tying shot attempt but missed; Siakam stormed into the lane to get the rebound and a putback to make it 110-109 OKC.
On the ensuing possession, Jalen Williams missed a layup, but the Pacers couldn’t corral the rebound and Carlisle called a timeout to challenge the play, arguing Siakam had gotten shoved out of bounds.
It was an unsuccessful challenge, and OKC retained possession of the ball. Gilgeous-Alexander, facing intense defensive pressure from Nembhard, missed a jumper off the back of the rim with 11 seconds left.
Nesmith came through with a spectacular rebound.
Timeout, Pacers?
Absolutely not.
Nesmith got the ball to Siakam, who passed it to Obi Toppin. Toppin handed the ball to Haliburton near midcourt.
Hali drove to his right, found a little space just inside the three-point line, and pulled up for another cold-blooded clutch shot.
Indiana takes a 1-0 series lead. Oklahoma City wonders what hit them. Final score: 111-110.
Thunder in four.
Thunder in five.
Thunder in six.
Thunder in seven.
Epilogue
Miracles can only take you so far.
You can’t rely on them–they just happen. Sometimes, they desert you.
The Pacers pushed the Thunder to seven games in a series they weren’t supposed to be in. And with Haliburton dealing with a calf strain, the miracles ran out.
There would be no fifth miracle. Just heartbreak.
Still, the fans were believers.
On behalf of the fans, thank you, Pacers.