Against all odds, the Indiana Pacers are currently the frontrunners in the 2025 NBA Finals with a 1-0 lead over the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Proving their doubters wrong has become the norm for the Pacers in the 2025 playoffs as they have taken care of business against some talented rosters in previous rounds.
While some have written off the Pacers’ run in the 2025 postseason as a fluke, others have compared them to the iconic Showtime Lakers.
But what’s the truth? Was there a specific incident that turned things around for the team? Well, Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle revealed there indeed was one particular game.
The NBA has been growing at a rapid rate across the globe. As a result, the league is pushing for a few games outside of the US each season.
This season, the league did so by scheduling a few games in Paris during January 2025. Speaking of which, the Pacers suffered a blowout 140-110 defeat against Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs.
Carlisle recently recalled how that defeat did more good than harm for his team.
“It was the middle, latter stages of January, which was our turnaround month. I think we only lost two games that month. One of the games was in Paris.
“We lost the first game in Paris, and we’re playing against Victor [Wembanyama] and we’ve got all the Paris fans there. There’s a lot coming at us,” Carlisle said during NBA Finals’ media availability.
He added: “It was literally us against the entire world. We didn’t play well that first game. We had a pretty quick turnaround without the benefit of a practice day because of how the schedule had gone.”
“… I like to open up our meetings to conversations and sometimes listen to the players first after a game like that. I mean it, was embarrassing. We lost by 30-something.”
Despite losing the first game, the Pacers didn’t give up. The result? Well, they outplayed the Spurs in the very next game as they nailed a 136-98 win over the Spurs.
Further talking about the turnaround month for Indy, Carlisle revealed that his team had the Paris matchups circled in the calendar even before the start of the season.
Why? Well, here’s what coach Carlisle had to say: “I mean, the Paris trip, certainly, probably part of it. We talked a lot about the Paris trip even before the season started and the challenges it was going to present, but also the opportunity that it would present.
“We had to manage, it’s two games in nine days. So you’ve got the front end,” Carlisle continued.
The Pacers head coach concluded by stating: “We had to get over there and do three days of media, similar to this, and then we had to have an off-day as far as being on the court between days. And so we had to figure some things out, but it certainly was a part of it.”
While the Paris trip had its own set of challenges, it ultimately helped the Pacers become a better team. Fast forward to now and they are just three wins away from lifting the Larry O’Brien trophy.
