The team has told the stories of Haliburton hitting a dozen shots in the last two minutes of playoff games to either go ahead or win. They’ll tell anyone who’ll listen that they have eight players averaging 10 points or more during the playoffs. They’ve touted “the power of friendship” between players, fans, and their fellow Indiana teams, and how “basketball matters more in Indiana.”
Coming off of a celebrity-laden Eastern Conference Finals with the New York Knicks that averaged nearly 7 million viewers per game—the most for that series since 2014 without going seven games—the Pacers focused on its supportive stars like ESPN commentator and former Indianapolis Colts punter Pat McAfee, actor Terry Crews, TNT playcaller and Pacers legend Reggie Miller, and Indianapolis 500 winner Alex Palou.
