Only two wins away from the championship! Now, it s time to give the Pacers enough respect

Their superstars have weird shooting postures and are often "invisible" on the court, which makes the debate show full of boring debates about whether he deserves the title of "superstar".

"I don't care at all." Tyreth Halliburton responded late Wednesday night after another wonderful playoff performance.

Their most powerful spark plugs are 1.85 meters tall, but they are 1.78 meters tall when they play. Speaking of jump shots, T.J. McConnell's posture is even worse. The veteran with ten years of experience may have been nine years more in the league than anyone expected, and he just perfectly interprets everything about the Indiana Pacers.

"Great white hope." Halliburton called him so.

Their big brother has been catching a cold for several days. G3 made frequent shots in the night for a while and it is very likely that he will not be able to train with the team on Thursday. It's OK, Myers Turner doesn't mention it. The longest player on the team will never miss the team's first NBA Finals held at home in 25 years.

This team can make people feel bloody and angry. Their never-ending fast break is well-known, but it is also known for its occasional distraction on the defensive end. They are very stubborn about their style, refuse to slow down and find the perfect shot, and protect the ball at all costs. The rotation will never shrink – whether it’s on a five-day road trip in February or the championship battle in June, the team insists on a ten-player rotation.

They will drag you down with speed, depth and toughness. They will share the ball and pull your defense.

"This is one of the things that draw me here," Pascal Siakam said. "Since I'm here, we've always been like this."

No matter what the odds are, whether it's a 7-pointer behind in the last 35 seconds against the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round, a 7-pointer behind in the last 44 seconds against the Cleveland Cavaliers in the second round, a 14-pointer behind in the last 2-41 seconds against the New York Knicks in the Eastern Conference Finals, or a 15-pointer behind in the fourth quarter against the Oklahoma City Thunder in the first game in the NBA Finals.

This is the Pacers, only two games away from the first NBA championship in team history.

If last week's shocking G1 reversal demonstrated the team's cunning moments, then the victory of G3 on Wednesday 116-107 showed the Pacers' best form: tenacious, firm, and dominant at the most critical moments.

"That's how we win," said head coach Rick Carlisle after the team took a 2-1 lead in the series. "We have to do it as a team, and we have to cause trouble for them as much as possible." The Pacers under Carlisle, when they scored or exceeded 110 points in the playoffs, had a record of 14 wins and 0 losses. When the shooting percentage reaches or exceeds 46%, the record is 14 wins and 0 losses. When he scored at least 40 sports goals, his record was 14 wins and 0 losses.

They have a set of formulas that work.

"The difficult thing is that it is challenging" is a sentence Carlisle likes to say to the players. Over the past two seasons, he has convinced his team that this is how they have to play: go forward at full speed without brakes. It's challenging, demanding, and sometimes madly. However, it also changed the trajectory of a team that was only one step away from the championship.

"Things that are reasonable are not difficult to sell for our players," the coach added. "It's a difficult system, it takes a lot of sacrifice. But when you execute it correctly, whether it's in a seemingly irrelevant game in mid-January two years ago, or in the finals G3, these guys understand where the important things are important."

"Our players have made the investment. It's like a Greek marriage (meaning that it takes a lot of effort) and it takes a lot of effort."

This is the Pacers on Wednesday night. They withstood the Thunder's starter and continued to punch for the next three quarters. The Thunder are still unable to resist and cannot find the answer. McConnell (10 points, 5 assists, 5 steals) is too destructive. Turner (5 blocks) is too tough. Halliburton (a rebound short of a triple-double) was simply outrageously strong.

And more, this team always does. Siakam's 21 points, the vitality brought by Obie Topin's substitute (Pacers scored 49-18 to crush the Thunder), Andrew Nembhard's suffocating defense, and Aaron Nesmith's key three-pointer at the end of the fourth quarter. And Benedict Mathurin, the player who missed the entire playoffs last year due to a shoulder labrum injury, has been counting days waiting to return to the court. He came on as a substitute in this game and scored a game-high 27 points.

The Pacers stood up all night and lived up to expectations. For a city and state that longs for such a championship journey for many years — even decades — the team is coming at an appropriate time. Mathurin, the only top 10 draft pick in the Pacers roster, said he had never heard the Banker Life Stadium be as hustle and bustle as it was on Wednesday night.

The fans were hungry, and the team continued to give them great things.

"Indiana is a basketball state, and this is the first time I've really felt that," Mathulin said. "Although it's all like a dream now, I don't want to indulge in the present. I want to make sure that this dream has a good ending."

Reggie Miller sat on the sidelines, next to another Indiana legend, Oscar Robertson. Edgelin James was also present, and Caitlyn Clark was also present. Like in the New York Knicks Series, Pat McAfee pushed audience sentiment to frenzy in his signature (including swearing) way at the end of the game. At that moment, the entire stadium seemed to be about to explode. The stadium on Wednesday night was not just loud, it was the hustle and bustle of the RCA Dome (the Pacers’ old home court, famous for its noise) level, and the old fans remembered those days all understood what I was talking about.

"They fit exactly what we expected," Carlisle said, who had called on Pacers fans to be as noisy as the Thunder fans in Oxford City, "especially in the fourth quarter, they directly raised the volume by several decibels."

This is not a typical championship contender, led by a talented star at the draft-level, or a superstar drawn to the free market. The small market label has bothered the Pacers for many years. The team was built in a traditional way and then climbed from a runner to a strong team. The Pacers ranked 25th in the league in total salary last season and 22nd this season. No one in the

team heard more criticism than Halliburton. Criticism, questioning, and distrust, he is a bit like a lightning rod recently. He was praised for his heroic performance at a critical moment a minute ago, and may be criticized for his poor condition the next minute. This is the only way to be a team appearance, especially in a team that has entered the spotlight through its own efforts.

"Comments are comments, that's all," he said late Wednesday, putting an end to nonsense while reminding everyone what really matters.

"It doesn't matter," he added, "we are only two games away from the NBA championship."

(text/Kong Yang)