The Pacers “Beautiful Game” offense is relentless and magical

How have the Pacers pulled off these miracle comebacks? By traditional measurement, Indiana isn't even the fastest team in the league, so it can't just be a pace thing, can it? Before we answer that, we need to understand this cutting-edge, chaotically beautiful brand of basketball that Indiana is playing, and how they've pushed the idea of pace, and even space, by borrowing from the pioneers of the revolution. When we think of teams that play fast, we think of running out in transition and shooting it quickly, and the Pacers certainly push it on the fast break, but their pace is about so much more than traditional runouts in transition. It's about the speed of their movement, their quick actions and fast passes for nearly the entirety of the shot clock. This is off a make, they just sprint down into their hurry-up pick and roll on the side, that buckles the defense, and it's a wide-open three. And this is an old Sun staple that has become popular around the league, and multiple Pacers players will get into this off a make, and it's less than five seconds in real time before they run this action and all of a sudden it's a layup. And this happens for a couple reasons. First, off the make, the shooter's defender sprints down the floor, hitting 19 miles per hour. The ball handler takes off at 15 miles an hour, then accelerates to 18 when he turns the corner. And finally, the lane is open because Indiana's big man can shoot, that pulls his defender out, and there's no one else left in the front court because of that speed. There's also a few fun variations of this, with the big starting on the block to pull his defender out of the paint, the ball handler, TJ McConnell, rejects the pick at warp speed and drags the big under the basket, and Miles Turner's about 40% on that shot. And off a miss against the Knicks, Pascal Siakam sprints to get ahead of the ball, fake setting the screen, and so McConnell's defender is anticipating a switch or fighting through a pick, McConnell uses that edge and flies right to the rim. Then look at this version a minute later, where it looks like TJ stalls out briefly only to hit a cutter for a near and one. And this is just relentless activity, where they start with the guard ahead of the play, at the same time Turner sets a flare screen for Siakam, then he sets a flare for the guard and ends up springing him on the cut because Turner's man's worried about him setting yet another screen for the ball handler, and all that happens in about 4 seconds. So they're fast down the floor, but they're also fast with their passes and screens and movement and all these actions wear on defenses. This play alone has 4 actions in 7 seconds, the ball screen and then flare to start the play, a cut into the lane on this kick out, a reset into an uphill pitch and roll, and then a corner handoff with the guards that finally cracks open the box. This is very reminiscent of the 2014 beautiful game Spurs, who were not only active with tons of player and ball movement, but they also embodied the idea of .5 basketball, that's making a decision to shoot, pass, or attack within half a second of catching it. The Pacers have these possessions where everyone who touches the rock is moving it to another teammate quickly or attacking right away, and so you get these trips with tons of pitches and passes that are just exhausting to defend, and all these random actions can usually generate something decent. This one starts with a ghost screen, a reversal to the second side to set up some staggered screens, that turns into an elbow pick and roll, they can post up the mismatch, but Halliburton blows by his man instead, the corner shooter is now open but he no-looks it to the top, touch pass, and then Halle keeps cutting right into the paint, Obi Toppin was also crashing and he immediately spaces to the opposite corner, Turner pops out while a teammate spaces to the other corner, Tyrese no-looks that, but it's a cut instead, Halle still cuts behind for a handoff, but Aaron Neesmith finally takes a 10-footer. And this one starts with a quick pick and roll, Miles short rolls then pops back out, he loves that move, then a three-man action out of the corner, then back to Halle into another ball screen, Cleveland's defensive matchups are scrambled now, so they finish them with another pick and roll, and that's a lot of activity in 15 seconds. Notice what's happening here, the Pacers play really fast, they sprint into multiple actions that are both organized and random, but they don't just jack up early shots, and by working for better shots, they sometimes use most of or even the entire shot clock. If we look at the fastest offenses after a made field goal in the last two decades, the 2025 Pacers are only in the 90th percentile, they're over a second slower on average than the 2025 Chicago Bulls, who weren't that efficient despite being as fast as the 2005 Suns in the regular season, although in the playoffs, only the 2023 Kings can match those blazing Steve Nash teams. Indiana's pace is almost better captured by how many passes they throw, nearly 340 per game in the 97th percentile since this data has been tracked, and fittingly, they're right behind the beautiful game Spurs from 2014. The Suns' seven seconds or less offense was about shooting it in less than seven seconds, but the Pacers' pace isn't about hunting an early shot, it's about looking for the best advantage as quickly as possible. Sometimes that happens immediately because they have multiple players on the floor who can just push the break like this, but sometimes it's the second, third, or even fourth action that finally breaks the defense, and you can't run this many actions in a possession without playing really quickly. Also, notice how everyone is constantly active without the ball. McConnell cuts out of the corner, Halliburton cuts to the wing, and Ben Matheran cuts behind his man as he leaves to finish. That's filthy. whopping 35 grams of protein and pretty balanced macros if you're into that sort of thing. Well, how do you prepare it? No, you aren't following. I just literally reach right here, grab it, and then drink as I go. We're talking about Indiana offense levels of pace and efficiency. This has seven grams of fiber, this chocolate flavor, which I love, which would be my preferred flavor of choice, 400 calories, and all that's not too shabby for under five bucks. Do we get a deal? Of course you get a deal. If you're a new customer, get 15% off at Huel.com slash Thinking Basketball using the code Thinking Basketball. That's Huel.com slash Thinking Basketball for new customers. Check the description box below for more info. Here's a concept we've seen the Grizzlies and Cavs use where the wing slides to the corner, and the corner slides to the baseline. And watch the movement after this crazy Halle pass. Toppen cuts right to the corner, and Tyrese relocates to the perimeter, and Turner acting as a screener because he re-spaces is the cherry on top. Sometimes their movement is subtle, but man is it hard to guard. Siakam has a mismatch, Miles goes to the other side to mess with the help, Donovan Mitchell tells his teammate to stay and load up on Siakam, meanwhile Mitchell's man changes sides to the near corner, so when Siakam drives, they're not organized, and Andrew Nembhard floats into an open three. Here's another subtle one where it's hard to tell if Nesmith is part of this screening action or not. That cut pulls a defender out of the way for Halliburton, who can then work his passing magic with an advantage. And the thing I probably love most about this offense is how they move bodies around the elbow area constantly, screening, spacing, whatever, there's constant activity there. And Shane Battier once told me something that I think about when I watch the Pacers. The four most important squares in the chessboard are the ones in the middle. If you control the middle, you control the game. The equivalent of that in the basketball court are the elbows. Whoever wins the elbows, wins the game. Shane was talking about the ball being at the elbows and cracking the paint, but the Pacers flow bodies to the elbows, often to screen there for these beautiful side-to-side actions. So Turner's coming over to set a ball screen, but he stops near the elbow to set a flare for Halliburton. That springs him downhill for the 360 pass, and this team is just magic. And the obvious application for this elbow activity is the flare screen, but plenty of Pacers cut through that area or just sort of hover briefly as they space there. So Siakam hangs out at the elbow. He could set a ball screen for Halliburton, but when Halle drives, he spaces to the three-point line, and now it's game over for the defense. Here it's Turner coming out of the corner with one possible flare screen, another possible flare, then a quick ball screen, and boom, he's behind the defense. And even on a bad pass, they're still shooting fish in a barrel. So another hallmark of this offense is this horizontality, left-to-right cuts, and ball movement across the middle of the floor like this. And this pairs with their pace. They push it off the make, Turner is ready to set a flare at the elbow, but that also allows him to relocate away from the defense, which is so much harder to guard. Most teams just stick a big in the corner, and so the weak side defender is responsible for two shooters to zone up, and he then makes a read on the pass like this. But with the Pacers, that zone-up defender is left guarding one shooter. Miles could be setting a flare for Halliburton, so this defender's worried about chasing Tyrese, and that leaves an impossible closeout from the paint for Turner's original defender. So the Pacers play fast, they run possible screeners right in front of the ball, they flow through the elbows, and Tyrese Halliburton is at the helm of it all. Multiple Pacers can push the pace, but he's in a different universe as a passer and decision maker. We did a deep dive on his jump passing last year, but he's able to process all sorts of passing options at high speeds and manipulate defenders on the move. He's great at pushing tempo with these hit-ahead passes, which are simple but quite powerful. And he's their best pick and role player by far, able to play two-man actions with that breakneck speed. So he's an elite decision maker in these situations, and Indiana's best scoring threat in those spots. He's also their most dangerous isolation shooter from the outside when plays break down, or when he hunts a mismatch against a big man and dances with them on the perimeter. And the threat of that step-back, along with Indiana's spacing, can set up little forays to the basket. So as fast as this offense is, as creative as it is, it still needs a quarterback to supercharge it to elite territory. Their offensive rating was 7 points better with Hallie on the floor in the regular season, and 12 points better with him on the floor in the Eastern Conference playoffs. In many ways, Halliburton embodies this entire offense. A frenetic, high-speed, quick-decision attacker who rarely ever turns the ball over among all this controlled chaos. This pairs well with Indiana's curveball, the incomparable Pascal Siakam, who can push the pace in transition, create mismatches when teams switch, and then make solid passing decisions if he's doubled. And he can cook dudes in isolation with his throwback mid-post game. Yet, even on his post-ups, Siakam often goes immediately off the catch to make his move. This is the Hakeem Olajuwon, go right into it when you touch the ball, because apparently, even post-ups on this team have an element of pace. Now, the big question I keep asking myself is whether Indiana's pace wears opponents down so much that it makes their miracle comebacks more probable. Sure, any team down 7 in the final minutes needs a lot of luck, but is it more likely for a team to falter in the 48th minute against this team, and is it more likely for Indiana to string together quick scores and successful clutch possessions because of the way they play offense? Historically, the best clutch teams run their normal offense through their best players, the Dirk Nowitzki Mavs, the Nikola Jokic Nuggets, and so on. And this is just the Pacers' normal offense. A high ball screen forces a switch, the activity on the weak side distracts the help defense, and that creates enough space for Halle to attack a mismatch and win the game. Against the Knicks, Siakam pushes early, gets into his iso bag, and it's a mid-range fade. Here's Tyrese off a make into that hurry-up pick-and-roll on the side, with the flare screen, and the three is wide open. This time when Halliburton runs into the quick screen, Neesmith is setting a pick at the opposite elbow, and then he organically spaces behind the line off that short roll pass. So the Pacers are just built for these kinds of quick-hitting, high-shot-quality flurries at the end of games, off of their organized sets, or from their flowing principles. Siakam pushes right off a make, he gets the pick, then turns and pitches, and that completely catches the defense off guard, so it's a clean look from deep. And then they do the exact same thing off the next make, only Ananobi isn't close, and he looks exhausted. And then they break out the football play designed for a quick shot, which gets Neesmith another catch, but he's deliberately fouled. And remember, coach Jenny Busek has designed a bunch of these football plays for late-clock quick-hitting situations. So it's hard to think of a team more comfortable with seven seconds and no timeouts, and Neesmith's cut here is critical, because Mitchell Robinson isn't sure if a pass is coming, which allows Hallie to go for the jugular at the all-time, what just happened, I can't even compose myself. They've borrowed from the Suns, they've borrowed from the Spurs, they've taken the idea of pace and applied it to every action on offense. And this Rick Carlisle attack, led by Tyrese Halliburton and Pascal Siakam, is one of the most effective, beautiful, and magical offenses we've seen in the NBA in a long time. If you want to work in basketball, I have the place for you. It's Sports Business Classroom's immersive program inside Summer League in Las Vegas. Past instructors in this program have included Commissioner Adam Silver, Mike D'Antoni, and tons of other industry leaders in the NBA and in media. Sign up using the code GREATDAY for $300 off. 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