“Somebody had to get there…” Draymond Green doubles down and calls Pacers ‘regular season team’ despite advancing to ECF

Indiana Pacers finished sixth in the regular season as other East powerhouse teams struggled.

“Somebody had to get there…” Draymond Green doubles down and calls Pacers ‘regular season team’ despite advancing to ECF

Draymond Green believes the Indiana Pacers got into the Eastern Conference Finals as no other strong teams were there to fight

The Indiana Pacers have returned to the Eastern Conference Finals exactly 10 years since the last time. Even though they went up against a spirited, but exhausted and depleted New York Knicks, reaching the Finals is not a small feat. However, Draymond Green doubled down on his view about the young team who literally play according to their name.

The view that he has held for long is that the Indiana Pacers are just a regular-season team. He doubled down on that while speaking on his podcast, The Draymond Green Show. 

You got to take your hat off to the Indiana Pacers. I still personally think they're an 82-game team. But I didn't think the Knicks was real, so like somebody had to get there. But now it get real, now you get Boston. They played well defensively versus New York. But this a totally different animal. I got Boston. Should be a gentleman sweep. So, no, there's no apologies. They got to the conference finals. Somebody have to get there. It's the East. We get it. Congrats to them, that's dope. But I think this is gonna be the end of the road for them.
Draymond Green said

Essentially, he does not believe the Pacers are in the Conference Finals on merit. Rather, it is due to the lack of good opponents.

FS Video

His logic does warrant some thought, though. Except for the Pacers, all other major Eastern Conference playoff contenders dealt with injuries to key players. The New York Knicks were also dealing with major injuries, and as a result of having to play with a depleted squad, were also gassed by the end.

Therefore, one could question whether the Indiana Pacers reached the Eastern Conference Finals due to their strength in playing great basketball. After all, they were sixth in the East for a reason.

Draymond Green could change stance if Indiana Pacers show some fight against Boston Celtics

In the five times the Indiana Pacers played against the Boston Celtics in the regular season, they have a 2-3 losing record. Not overtly concerning, considering the league leaders generally stomp over other teams. However, there have been two changes since their last game. One is the arrival of Pascal Siakam, and the second is that this is the playoffs.

Any team worth their salt knows that the playoffs are a different setting altogether. Therefore, banking on their regular season record is pointless. The second is that Siakam did not play against Boston while donning the Pacers jersey. Therefore, the addition could swing the result either way.

But as Draymond Green said, the Boston Celtics are going to be the first real test for the young Pacers. His opinion about them could change if the Pacers at least put up a decent fight, unlike the two team the Celtics beat to get here.

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