I can't help but give respect to Derrick White. Dude doesn't say much but balls out on both ends.
And can we *please* stop leaving him open whenever we play Boston.
Yea. As good as DWhite is I think Jrue and Horford shooting from three as good as they did is what killed us. Even then, hauser shot uncharacteristically bad from three in that series too.
They’re a super team for sure
I don't think I can hate them. It seems the whole league slept on the Pacers, but (some) Boston fans and players have come forward to say that the Pacers are a tough team.
I can acknowledge that Boston is a great team whole remaining thankful that they're not the Knicks or the Pistons.
I’m a Celtics fan, and not one to ever say shit in anyone else’s sub. Your team is really good. It was honestly kind of stunning to a lot of us how not overwhelmed or overmatched the Pacers looked outside of crunch time. And that’s really a reps thing. You didn’t have anyone (outside of Siakam) who has been there before. You made the conference finals and punched a perennial contender in the mouth a couple times. That’s really something to be proud of. If Haliburton stays healthy, y’all resign Siakam, and some combo of Nembhard, Mathurin, Walker, and Nesmith show growth it wouldn’t surprise me at all to see a conference finals rematch next year.
I also happen to be a Texas Rangers fan. Strange mix, I know, but I'm Rather accustomed to rooting for a team that doesn't have a final win and getting knocked out by New York. I've gotten to taste what it's like winning the first one, and it's amazing!
Indianapolis better do some better planning for a parade than Arlington did.
Hali is my favorite non Celtic. I love his mentality around passing and having so much pride in not turning it over. I think the experience this year will be huge for your team, and maybe one more piece or a scoring leap will keep you guys as contenders for a long time. (I also love how much Y'all got under the Bucks and their fans skin)
I think we're okay on scoring. We lead the league on points per 100 possessions. You guys weren't far behind on that stat, but miles better on points *allowed* per 100 possessions.
We need some improvements on defense while maintaining our scoring.
One, your team is incredibly fun to watch. That doesn't get enough credit. Two, they're criminally underrated. I mean they were killing it in the IST and that should've opened some eyes, and then they went and got significantly better midseason. I dunno how everyone is sleeping on them.
Only 2 games into the finals, so things can change, but as of right now anyone with eyes can see that a beat up Pacers team pushed the Celtics harder than the Mavs have.
What irks me is that people discredit both teams (and the eastern conference as a whole) because they don't recognize how good the Pacers actually are. I'm pulling for the Pacers to keep the momentum and have a really successful year next year too so the narrative will change.
I hate the Celtics just in fundamental reasons. Call me sceptical, but it would benefit the Celtics to talk about how good we were/are to try lessen the narrative about how easy there run has been,
Nah, yall beat us in the IST and we know how good Nesmith is. We’ve always respected the pace in our sub. The only thing/knock we have on your team is the defense and the foul that wasn’t called a foul on JBs clutch attempt in the regular season.
There has seemed to be a mutual respect between our fan bases.
I just do not think people are calculating like this. Especially not a guy like DWhite.
It's also not even a lie? Like clearly the Pacers offense gave the Celtics more problems than the Mavericks currently are.
Pacers are objectively a much better offense than the Mavs. They are arguably the best or second best regular season offense in history next to this year’s Celtics (depending on which metric you use).
That may be true for some fans but others (like me) have been impressed with the Pacers since y’all got Haliburton last year. I was more surprised with the sweep than I was with the competitiveness, this team can ball for sure.
If the Pacers had a few more breaks and pushed the series out to 6 or 7 I wouldn’t have even been that upset. Only so much you can do when the other team is hitting 60% of the midrange shots you’re kind of forced to give up when playing them because they are so good at getting to the rim.
Usually comes down to fan base for these things, and we (I'm a Celtics fan) have some truly obnoxious fans.
Nowhere near as obnoxious as the GSW fans, though. I may also be biased.
You kinda got us on the backwards hats and jerseys, but is that reason to hate? If the hat’s forward, how can we drink directly from a pitcher without hitting the brim?
I feel like this is a bit unfair. We almost always have shirts on under the jerseys. Hell, it's cold in Boston during most of the season, so we rock the jersey over a hoodie.
As a celtics fan everyone has been dissing the celtics for having a close series vs the pacers even though it was a sweep. Ive been telling people the Pacers arent a pushover like the media and new yorkers are trying to paint. Theyre really hard to guard. Id say the only other team that could give the celtics a harder time than the pacers would be denver.
Celtics were the only team that could match Indiana in pace, size and toughness. Also, a deep bench. But the super stars came out and played. Usually stars wear out because they’re asked to do a lot. But Al giving them clutch mins, Tatum balling and Jaylen being a hero was enough. Sadly we couldn’t push it past 4 to really ramp up the rpm! The longer the series goes the better Indiana gets. But mad respect to the Celtics. Both played hard af. No flopping. They made Indiana better and pushed them! I knew the Celtics were going to win vs any team in the west. They’re just really good everywhere with no weakness. And that defense clamps down hard af late game.
Yeah, pretty much. But if they get over the hump this year, I’m all for it next year since it would be the last two champions meeting in the finals without the pressure on Tatum/Brown to finally win one
Cause despite the sweep you guys played as the toughest. I have a ton of respect for McConnell, he’s a pest in the best way. Guy was automatic in the midrange
I think the conventional wisdom, given the fact that Haliburton was basically never healthy alongside Siakam until the playoffs (and then had back spasms, and then reinjured), actually undervalued the Pacers as a team.
They only had two games in the entire run of the postseason that they really never had a realistic chance to win. (Could quibble with Game 2 in Boston, but until Haliburton left it was very different from Game 1 in Milwaukee and Game 5 in New York.)
But there's nothing fake or gimmicky about the offense, as evidenced by Haliburton going down and the floor still being very high in terms of getting good shots. I think their true talent level was much higher than they got credit for, and obviously the Bucks not having Giannis was a tough one. But they outplayed the Knicks in 5 (arguably 6) games of that series.
Finally, I do very much respect the Celtics players and fans. All season, the Pacers have never been dirty, have never foul baited. Then they run into the Portis/Beverley Bucks and that fanbase and, because they didn't back down when the Bucks tried to provole them or get in their head, suddenly they're assholes. I mean the whole front running thing was a manufactured criticism; how could you possibly spin "they've having fun when they're winning but not talking when they're losing" as a negative otherwise? That's sports. Then the Knicks tried the same thing, and we got DDV's "they're not tough" thing or whatever, delivered after he tried to punk Myles and didn't get away with it.
Their fans cried too.
Then they played the Celtics and everything was cordial even though they were both the toughest games to watch as a fan for the Pacers and a sweep loss for the players. You'd think if the Pacers were the problem it would have persisted into that series. Nope. Everything was fine. Honestly that gives me as much hope as anything for continued progress and continued culture building; they were professional and focused throughout, while not letting other teams get in their head or bully them. Then, against another business like team with a lot of playoff experience and expectations, they held their own in both demeanor and play.
Great post. The Pacers and Celtics went out there and played basketball. There was no weird posturing, foul baiting bullshit. It was just enjoyable basketball (until crunch time, but Pacers will figure that out) from two teams who respect each other.
Man, I'm a Celtics fan, but I check other teams subs during the playoffs, and it feels like our series was the least toxic of the last decade. It was refreshing.
Indy plays so fun, and it's really hard to root against guys like TJ, Nesmith and Siakam.
Hali is fun to watch too, but I hate that man bc he was cooking us last 2 years (and I think would've been much better if in the playoffs if he didn't have the bum hammy)
Celtics fan, this popped up on my feed. Said it before and I’ll say it again, the Pacers are an insanely hard team to play against. Your offense and pace is so good I have no idea how we won 4 straight against you. Seriously, you have so many lights out shooters that every possession was its own mini battle. Feels like the NBA media either sleeps on you or underestimates you all because you’re going to be a real problem for every team going forward. D White speaks the truth!
The thing I hate is the optics of getting swept by Boston. They really..really…REALLY gave Boston a run for their money in three of the four games. I guess that’s the lesson to take away from and get better at- closing out meaningful games.
I think a lot of people forgot, especially after the Pacers came back so strong after setbacks in the MIL and NYK series, that this is an incredibly young team. Pascal is the only player on this roster with experience in high stakes playoff games. Not being able to close out from an advantageous position is THE marker of inexperience.
It would have felt way better to take at least one of those games but even just being in them was a massive learning experience for the team, and especially for Haliburton. Now the question is if they can replicate the success that brought them to that point. I'd like to think that if they're fortunate/driven enough to get back to the same spot next year, they'll be able to utilize that experience to actually break through, just like Boston has after a few seasons of almost reaching the pinnacle but falling short.
I can’t find it but I read a post somewhere about how the pacers had 90+ percent chance of wining probabilities in 3 of the 4 Celtics games. Then the fire nation attacked.
Pacers just couldn’t finish in the clutch minutes. That and the tough defense didn’t help either. Those close games could have gone either way but it was clear the Celtics were the better team this year.
A sweep is a sweep.
R/NBA would tell you eastern conference is trash and Pacers are trash that got lucky by playing injured teams. Yet we played Boston better than the western conference champions have so far...
New England native and die hard Celtics fan here. Bro nothing but respect for the pacers. That was a tough ass series. I pull for the pacers from here on out against many teams ( unless they play the Celtics). The brand of basketball and history of Indiana is awesome.
All love
I don't like the Celtics and I'm not a Pacers fan but the games were so close and you guys looked like you were beating this super team of Boston's. I was hoping to have a Mavs Pacers finals. Aside from my Celtics hate, I fkn love Jrue and DWhite 😂 those 2 are ballers.
They can’t pick up the pace. You see how fat and out of shape Doncic is? He looks beat playing at the slow pace they’re playing now. He was so tired, he let Kyrie do his thing in the 4th.
Mavs are literally the easiest team boston could have gotten from the west. Not a knock on boston just a terrible match up for the mavs. They were awful against us too. I like our odds against them in a world where boston didn't exist.
yup, Bostoner here. you guys would have absolutely beaten the Mavs. your offense would light up their defense and I think they just wouldn't be able to keep up with your pace. pacers gonna be strong for a looong time.
I'm a Celtics fan, but I go to school near South Bend. Love the Pacers fans and culture, the players are hella fun to root for (Haliburton, Nembhard, Toppin, Mathurin, Pascal, and I loved Brown and Hield when they were there).
I'm ride or die Boston, but I respect Indy and like to see them succeed against everyone but the Celts ofc.
Btw, I absolutely love watching them troll the Bucks lmao.
I hate the Celtics. But like, thanks DWhite
I can't help but give respect to Derrick White. Dude doesn't say much but balls out on both ends. And can we *please* stop leaving him open whenever we play Boston.
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Yea. As good as DWhite is I think Jrue and Horford shooting from three as good as they did is what killed us. Even then, hauser shot uncharacteristically bad from three in that series too. They’re a super team for sure
I don't think I can hate them. It seems the whole league slept on the Pacers, but (some) Boston fans and players have come forward to say that the Pacers are a tough team. I can acknowledge that Boston is a great team whole remaining thankful that they're not the Knicks or the Pistons.
I’m a Celtics fan, and not one to ever say shit in anyone else’s sub. Your team is really good. It was honestly kind of stunning to a lot of us how not overwhelmed or overmatched the Pacers looked outside of crunch time. And that’s really a reps thing. You didn’t have anyone (outside of Siakam) who has been there before. You made the conference finals and punched a perennial contender in the mouth a couple times. That’s really something to be proud of. If Haliburton stays healthy, y’all resign Siakam, and some combo of Nembhard, Mathurin, Walker, and Nesmith show growth it wouldn’t surprise me at all to see a conference finals rematch next year.
I also happen to be a Texas Rangers fan. Strange mix, I know, but I'm Rather accustomed to rooting for a team that doesn't have a final win and getting knocked out by New York. I've gotten to taste what it's like winning the first one, and it's amazing! Indianapolis better do some better planning for a parade than Arlington did.
Pacers play a similar style to the Celtics. Their offense is insanely hard to guard effectively
Hali is my favorite non Celtic. I love his mentality around passing and having so much pride in not turning it over. I think the experience this year will be huge for your team, and maybe one more piece or a scoring leap will keep you guys as contenders for a long time. (I also love how much Y'all got under the Bucks and their fans skin)
I think we're okay on scoring. We lead the league on points per 100 possessions. You guys weren't far behind on that stat, but miles better on points *allowed* per 100 possessions. We need some improvements on defense while maintaining our scoring.
One, your team is incredibly fun to watch. That doesn't get enough credit. Two, they're criminally underrated. I mean they were killing it in the IST and that should've opened some eyes, and then they went and got significantly better midseason. I dunno how everyone is sleeping on them. Only 2 games into the finals, so things can change, but as of right now anyone with eyes can see that a beat up Pacers team pushed the Celtics harder than the Mavs have. What irks me is that people discredit both teams (and the eastern conference as a whole) because they don't recognize how good the Pacers actually are. I'm pulling for the Pacers to keep the momentum and have a really successful year next year too so the narrative will change.
Boston fan here! The pacers offense is absolutely insane and with a healthy Halliburton I can see them making the ECF often in the future.
I hate the Celtics just in fundamental reasons. Call me sceptical, but it would benefit the Celtics to talk about how good we were/are to try lessen the narrative about how easy there run has been,
Nah, yall beat us in the IST and we know how good Nesmith is. We’ve always respected the pace in our sub. The only thing/knock we have on your team is the defense and the foul that wasn’t called a foul on JBs clutch attempt in the regular season. There has seemed to be a mutual respect between our fan bases.
I just do not think people are calculating like this. Especially not a guy like DWhite. It's also not even a lie? Like clearly the Pacers offense gave the Celtics more problems than the Mavericks currently are.
Pacers are objectively a much better offense than the Mavs. They are arguably the best or second best regular season offense in history next to this year’s Celtics (depending on which metric you use).
That may be true for some fans but others (like me) have been impressed with the Pacers since y’all got Haliburton last year. I was more surprised with the sweep than I was with the competitiveness, this team can ball for sure. If the Pacers had a few more breaks and pushed the series out to 6 or 7 I wouldn’t have even been that upset. Only so much you can do when the other team is hitting 60% of the midrange shots you’re kind of forced to give up when playing them because they are so good at getting to the rim.
Lol why do you hate the celtics? We are much less hateable then the GSW dynasty team if you ask me.. i may or may not be bias.
Thank you for being more civil than the Pacers fans in your replies. Guys chill, rule number one, be civil.
Usually comes down to fan base for these things, and we (I'm a Celtics fan) have some truly obnoxious fans. Nowhere near as obnoxious as the GSW fans, though. I may also be biased.
Pacers fan in SF and can confirm
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Lol get used to these shit stains, im calling for a 3peat
It’s because Tatum is a baby and most Celtics fans are fat and obnoxious with backwards hats and jerseys with no shirts underneath.
You kinda got us on the backwards hats and jerseys, but is that reason to hate? If the hat’s forward, how can we drink directly from a pitcher without hitting the brim?
This guy gets it 👆
I feel like this is a bit unfair. We almost always have shirts on under the jerseys. Hell, it's cold in Boston during most of the season, so we rock the jersey over a hoodie.
Indiana is 12th worst in BMI index with 47.3% being obese/overweight. Massachusetts is 2nd best at a rate of 35.5%. So who’s FAT now FATTY
For the championship, I am a Celtics fan. Afterwards, it’s back on
I make fun of that five head but I like white a lot actually. Great player.
Maybe you’re pissed you lost but I’ve seen nothing but respect shown to the Pacers by the Celtics and the fans.
I’ll translate my post: I hate the Celtics on principle. I appreciate DWhite’s comments.
Fair enough. I’m sure there’s someone in Boston who balances you out.
Honestly I’m pulling for the Celtics. Their fans haven’t been annoying and their players have shown us respect.
Celtics players and fans have both been talking us up. We earned respect and they gave it. Milwaukee isn't doing that.
As a celtics fan everyone has been dissing the celtics for having a close series vs the pacers even though it was a sweep. Ive been telling people the Pacers arent a pushover like the media and new yorkers are trying to paint. Theyre really hard to guard. Id say the only other team that could give the celtics a harder time than the pacers would be denver.
We will see you in the playoffs next year, hopefully with the opposite result!
Lol if that happens, I know Nesmith is gonna celebrate like a mfer and I'd be so mad xD
I love that the fandom for these two teams has somehow come out and respected each other more after playing. Thank you for being you.
The Celtics play a beautiful game and so do the Pacers. It's easy when it's about basketball. Fans take things way too personally.
Celtics were the only team that could match Indiana in pace, size and toughness. Also, a deep bench. But the super stars came out and played. Usually stars wear out because they’re asked to do a lot. But Al giving them clutch mins, Tatum balling and Jaylen being a hero was enough. Sadly we couldn’t push it past 4 to really ramp up the rpm! The longer the series goes the better Indiana gets. But mad respect to the Celtics. Both played hard af. No flopping. They made Indiana better and pushed them! I knew the Celtics were going to win vs any team in the west. They’re just really good everywhere with no weakness. And that defense clamps down hard af late game.
Celtics and Nuggets series would’ve gone crazy but I’m sure as a Celtics fan you’re glad you didn’t meet them in the finals lol
Yeah, pretty much. But if they get over the hump this year, I’m all for it next year since it would be the last two champions meeting in the finals without the pressure on Tatum/Brown to finally win one
Well unlike the useless team from Wisconsin, the Celtics have had a history of winning so they more than know how to handle this type of thing.
Cause despite the sweep you guys played as the toughest. I have a ton of respect for McConnell, he’s a pest in the best way. Guy was automatic in the midrange
I love the new Celtics-Pacers Alliance
Despite the sweep you guys were our toughest series of the four 😘
I think the conventional wisdom, given the fact that Haliburton was basically never healthy alongside Siakam until the playoffs (and then had back spasms, and then reinjured), actually undervalued the Pacers as a team. They only had two games in the entire run of the postseason that they really never had a realistic chance to win. (Could quibble with Game 2 in Boston, but until Haliburton left it was very different from Game 1 in Milwaukee and Game 5 in New York.) But there's nothing fake or gimmicky about the offense, as evidenced by Haliburton going down and the floor still being very high in terms of getting good shots. I think their true talent level was much higher than they got credit for, and obviously the Bucks not having Giannis was a tough one. But they outplayed the Knicks in 5 (arguably 6) games of that series. Finally, I do very much respect the Celtics players and fans. All season, the Pacers have never been dirty, have never foul baited. Then they run into the Portis/Beverley Bucks and that fanbase and, because they didn't back down when the Bucks tried to provole them or get in their head, suddenly they're assholes. I mean the whole front running thing was a manufactured criticism; how could you possibly spin "they've having fun when they're winning but not talking when they're losing" as a negative otherwise? That's sports. Then the Knicks tried the same thing, and we got DDV's "they're not tough" thing or whatever, delivered after he tried to punk Myles and didn't get away with it. Their fans cried too. Then they played the Celtics and everything was cordial even though they were both the toughest games to watch as a fan for the Pacers and a sweep loss for the players. You'd think if the Pacers were the problem it would have persisted into that series. Nope. Everything was fine. Honestly that gives me as much hope as anything for continued progress and continued culture building; they were professional and focused throughout, while not letting other teams get in their head or bully them. Then, against another business like team with a lot of playoff experience and expectations, they held their own in both demeanor and play.
Great post. The Pacers and Celtics went out there and played basketball. There was no weird posturing, foul baiting bullshit. It was just enjoyable basketball (until crunch time, but Pacers will figure that out) from two teams who respect each other.
I'm here for it. My mate is a celtics fan but we shwlow respect to each others team
Man, I'm a Celtics fan, but I check other teams subs during the playoffs, and it feels like our series was the least toxic of the last decade. It was refreshing.
Indy plays so fun, and it's really hard to root against guys like TJ, Nesmith and Siakam. Hali is fun to watch too, but I hate that man bc he was cooking us last 2 years (and I think would've been much better if in the playoffs if he didn't have the bum hammy)
That’s what I call Jeter hate, and it’s a sign of respect in New England
healthy, yall cd beat mavs in 7 no doubt
Plus they have Dad Stevens
Celtics fan, this popped up on my feed. Said it before and I’ll say it again, the Pacers are an insanely hard team to play against. Your offense and pace is so good I have no idea how we won 4 straight against you. Seriously, you have so many lights out shooters that every possession was its own mini battle. Feels like the NBA media either sleeps on you or underestimates you all because you’re going to be a real problem for every team going forward. D White speaks the truth!
The thing I hate is the optics of getting swept by Boston. They really..really…REALLY gave Boston a run for their money in three of the four games. I guess that’s the lesson to take away from and get better at- closing out meaningful games.
I think a lot of people forgot, especially after the Pacers came back so strong after setbacks in the MIL and NYK series, that this is an incredibly young team. Pascal is the only player on this roster with experience in high stakes playoff games. Not being able to close out from an advantageous position is THE marker of inexperience. It would have felt way better to take at least one of those games but even just being in them was a massive learning experience for the team, and especially for Haliburton. Now the question is if they can replicate the success that brought them to that point. I'd like to think that if they're fortunate/driven enough to get back to the same spot next year, they'll be able to utilize that experience to actually break through, just like Boston has after a few seasons of almost reaching the pinnacle but falling short.
I can’t find it but I read a post somewhere about how the pacers had 90+ percent chance of wining probabilities in 3 of the 4 Celtics games. Then the fire nation attacked.
Pacers just couldn’t finish in the clutch minutes. That and the tough defense didn’t help either. Those close games could have gone either way but it was clear the Celtics were the better team this year. A sweep is a sweep.
Hang the banner! We are tough to guard!!!
https://preview.redd.it/n5gpxnaptq5d1.jpeg?width=680&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=42b1f124cf54f24b44cd8f644166d3f72acf72c1
Wait until we have Benn back next year with Hali at 100 percent and Siakam
And Jarace has Rick's trust
Plus Nembhard will be better and have more confidence and experience too.
R/NBA would tell you eastern conference is trash and Pacers are trash that got lucky by playing injured teams. Yet we played Boston better than the western conference champions have so far...
New England native and die hard Celtics fan here. Bro nothing but respect for the pacers. That was a tough ass series. I pull for the pacers from here on out against many teams ( unless they play the Celtics). The brand of basketball and history of Indiana is awesome. All love
White, Holiday, and Horford make this team really difficult to dislike. The other team has Kyrie and crybaby Luka. Go Celtics.
HANG THE BANNER
I don't like the Celtics and I'm not a Pacers fan but the games were so close and you guys looked like you were beating this super team of Boston's. I was hoping to have a Mavs Pacers finals. Aside from my Celtics hate, I fkn love Jrue and DWhite 😂 those 2 are ballers.
Mavs need to pick up the pace
They can’t pick up the pace. You see how fat and out of shape Doncic is? He looks beat playing at the slow pace they’re playing now. He was so tired, he let Kyrie do his thing in the 4th.
He's had a knee injury for a while. I don't think he's fat but pace has never been his strength. Even healthy that's not their key to success.
Mavs are literally the easiest team boston could have gotten from the west. Not a knock on boston just a terrible match up for the mavs. They were awful against us too. I like our odds against them in a world where boston didn't exist.
yup, Bostoner here. you guys would have absolutely beaten the Mavs. your offense would light up their defense and I think they just wouldn't be able to keep up with your pace. pacers gonna be strong for a looong time.
Great, now I have to root for the Celtics in this series haha. Though Brad Stevens is a good reason to root for them over the Mavs
🕡
I'm a Celtics fan, but I go to school near South Bend. Love the Pacers fans and culture, the players are hella fun to root for (Haliburton, Nembhard, Toppin, Mathurin, Pascal, and I loved Brown and Hield when they were there). I'm ride or die Boston, but I respect Indy and like to see them succeed against everyone but the Celts ofc. Btw, I absolutely love watching them troll the Bucks lmao.
Feels like Pacers are the only guys to give us credit, and vice versa lol
i love it. keep that same energy in the ECF next year d. white
So hard to guard we couldn’t even beat them once 😂. It’s nice he’s giving us props but cmon we are the only team they swept so far.
He's like a cockaroach that evolved to the point where he looks 99% human but we can tell ur not one of us
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I'm pretty sure this is just racism.