Easily advanced 4-1 in the first round, creating a 20-point reversal in the second round! The NBA dark horse was born in the 24-25 season

In this year's NBA playoffs, there are many inconspicuous teams who can actually play super dominant. The Timberwolves in the Western Conference are not optimistic during the regular season. The big reason is that they sent down Towns away last year and broke up the team's double tower combination in exchange for Randall, the former hard battle of the soft persimmon. In terms of regular season record, the Timberwolves are not as good as last season. Unexpectedly, in the playoffs, the Timberwolves were able to kill two traffic teams, the Lakers and Warriors, and they had almost no pressure. Why did they say they had not encountered pressure? Because in several games, the Timberwolves' performance has been bad, but they can still win. For example, with the Lakers' G5, they shot 7 of 47 three-pointers, and they can still defeat the Lakers, which shows that there is indeed a gap in hard strength between the two teams.

There are also the Knicks in the Eastern Conference. During the regular season, the Knicks faced the top three teams in the league and never won a single game. They had a total record of 0 wins and 11 losses, but they were able to complete a gorgeous transformation in the playoffs. By the second round of the playoffs, the Knicks' resilience was also reflected. He was not ruthless in the face of the defending champion and won the match point 3-1. You should know that the Knicks' lineup depth is much worse than that of the Celtics. Basically, 5 players can score points. McBride, who averaged the highest average score on the bench, averaged only 5 points per game. Logically speaking, after the playoffs, the Knicks will consume faster physical fitness, and several starters will not be able to bear it, and may increase the risk of injury. Unexpectedly, Thibodeau still used the "cow and horse tactics" to defeat the defending champion Celtics.

Of course, the most surprising team this year's playoffs is actually the Pacers. Among the 16 teams that have entered the playoffs, the Pacers are actually the most inconspicuous one and have no attention at all. Over the years, the Pacers' record has been neither good nor bad. They are hovering on the edge of the playoffs. They rarely have bad seasons, and they are unable to make a greater breakthrough in the playoffs. After all, they are in the small ball market and cannot attract any superstars. Take the Pacers for example. They only have two All-Star players, Halliburton and Siakam, and their status is very average. Among them, Siakam has reached his ability limit, and he can only average 24 points per game in his peak season, which is incomparable to other teams' star players. Halliburton was selected as the most overrated star in the NBA this year.

Why do people say that Halliburton is overrated? On the one hand, his positioning is very special. As one of the few purely organized point guards in the league, his scoring ability is very limited, and he is strong in offense and weak in defense. In fact, Halliburton's biggest weakness is that his athletic ability is too poor, which also destined that his offensive methods are very single, and his scoring depends mainly on the shooting environment. He cannot easily create space for shooting like players such as Edwards and Tatum. On the other hand, compared with last season, Halliburton has significantly declined in all data, from averaging 20.1 points and 10.9 assists per game last season to averaging 18.6 points and 9.2 assists per game this season, the ceiling seems to be the only one here. Halliburton has also lost to this year's All-Star lineup. It seems that it is difficult for the Pacers, led by him and Sika, to maintain their competitiveness in winning the championship in the current league.

However, the result was unexpected. In this year's playoffs, the Pacers are likely to become the first team to enter the division finals. They easily eliminated the traditional Eastern Conference Bucks 4-1 in the first round. Even if Antetokounmpo burst into every game, it would be difficult to win a valuable victory with the Pacers. In the second round, facing the Knights of the East, the Great Devil level, the Pacers were able to suppress their opponents, get the match point 3-1 first, and stage a 20-point reversal in G2. As early as the Bucks' G5, the Pacers also staged a 20-point reversal, and these 20-point reversals also included a 7-point reversal + a decisive kill in the last minute. This also shows that this Pacers are resilient, the whole team plays very tenaciously, and the quality required for the playoffs is guaranteed. Second, their key ball abilities should not be underestimated and they can turn the tables at the last moment.

In fact, this Pacers are not the team led by Sika and Halliburton. They have achieved the true team of all the people and are a core team. First of all, the Pacers have scored a lot of points, with the starting five players averaging more than 14 points per game, and three players averaging more than 9 points per game on the bench, including Matherine, McConnell and Toppin. Secondly, the Pacers team cooperates well and has a smooth offense. Currently, they maintain the first two shooting percentages in the playoffs league, the only team with a shooting percentage of more than 50%, and the only team with an average assist of more than 30 games. Finally, the Pacers' lineup structure is actually very perfect, with no shortcomings, and they are all-round in every position. Center Turner ushered in rapid progress, and his three-point shooting percentage is as high as 45%. On the other hand, their opponents to the Cavaliers in the second round basically have no shooting ability in the inside double towers.

There is no doubt that the Pacers have become the biggest dark horse in this year's playoffs, and the Eastern Conference has also changed drastically. The Eastern Conference Finals are likely to be against the Knicks vs. the Pacers. The two favorites to win the championship, the Celtics and the Cavaliers are both eliminated. Isn't it unexpected?