While Indiana Pacers' Tyrese Haliburton is making public appearances ahead of his comeback season in 2026-27, expectations have been elevated for his team. Looking to build off reaching Game 7 of the NBA Finals in 2025, Haliburton and a revamped Pacers core, including a new center in Ivica Zubac, make Indiana a dark horse amidst a competitive Eastern Conference.

Looking back at the Pacers' previous deep playoff runs, including reaching the Eastern Conference Finals in back-to-back seasons before facing the Oklahoma City Thunder in the NBA Finals, the Pacers could be heading down a similar path, as The Indianapolis Star's Dustin Dopirak noted, per CLNS Media's Celtics Daily with Bobby Manning.

“This could be one of those years that the difference is two or three games, or three or four games,” Dopirak said. “A key thing to remember here, as far as Eastern standings, they won the East off a four seed in 2024-25. They got to the [Eastern Conference] Finals out of a six [seed] in 2023-24. They're good for leaving some regular-season wins on the table, basically. They have done that in the past. In each of those runs, they found a different gear once they got to postseason basketball.”

Either way, if the Pacers secure a top-6 seed ahead of the postseason, they could be a tough out in a best-of-7 series.

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“They obviously know that they've gotta be top six,” Dopirak added. “I don't think they want anything to do with Play-In round whatsoever. That's been very rare that you turn a Play-In situation even into a conference finals. So you generally want to get past that mess. So, you want to be top-6. But I think they're certainly a team that says if we're top-6, we can get wherever we want.

“It's just a question of getting it, being able to play their style of basketball. Is it a team that's good enough to win 48 to 50 games? I think it is.”

Much of the Pacers' success will depend on how Tyrese Haliburton recovers from his torn Achilles tendon, which most fans are confident will allow the 26-year-old to lead his team to another deep playoff run.