Would the Pacers be the biggest Cinderella champion of they win it all?

[ScrantonBulls]

The obvious competition are the 94-95 Rockets. They were a 6 seed and added Clyde late in the season. Hard to call a team with Hakeem and Clyde a Cinderella, but they were a 6 seed and went through Stockton/Malone, Barkley/Johnson, DRob, then Shaq/Penny. That's one hell of a run.

Would this be more of a Cinderella run? Maybe the Trailblazers championship team? I think I'd have this Pacers team as the ultimate.

[Stan]

From a narrative standpoint, I think it'd be tough to top the Mavs who knocked off the champion Lakers, Big 3 OKC, then the biggest villain the league has ever seen in the Heat.

Personally though, I think this would be the craziest title run of all time, especially when you consider how the games have played out.

[Deathray]

The Rockets were defending champions so even though they had to come back from down 3-1 to Phoenix no way were they Cinderellas.

[PhilBlackson]

Right there with Carlisle's last championship with DAL, arguably more since I would say Dirk was more highly regarded than Hali.

[jokeboy86]

Yes because as good as Haliburton is(as of now) he’s not tracking to be as good as Hakeem or Dirk. Hakeem and Dirk weren’t just all stars or even just HOFer but former MVPs and playing with vets like Drexler and Kidd who were also top 5/top 10 players in the league when in their prime. The Pacers winning the title would be the most stunning sports championship win since Buster Douglas beating Tyson.

[Tim_Hardawayy]

From a narrative standpoint, I think it'd be tough to top the Mavs who knocked off the champion Lakers, Big 3 OKC, then the biggest villain the league has ever seen in the Heat.

Personally though, I think this would be the craziest title run of all time, especially when you consider how the games have played out.

Yeah I guess it depends how you look at it and how much you hype the names the Mavs beat and how much you underrate them (people forget they had nearly the same record as the Heat in the regular season).

Indiana is doing this as a somewhat lesser seed, against an ATG opponent by the numbers (I know a lot of people don't buy the OKC narrative, but statistically they were great this year), and while the rest of their opponents aren't as heralded as the Mavs for name recognition, you could also argue the Pacers themselves have less star power. The Mavs had Dirk, who was always going to be a top 20-30 player all-time even if he never won a chip, alongside older but well established and multiple time all-stars like Jason Kidd and Shawn Marion. Pacers are led by "most overrated player in the league" Haliburton, and the only somewhat established vet on their team is Siakam.

Craziest thing, both teams coached by Carlisle.

[Dr Aki]

How could ANYONE go past the plucky Syracuse Nationals of 1955?

[Asian Celtic]

Neck and Neck with Carlisle's Mavericks run.

[PhilBlackson]

How could ANYONE go past the plucky Syracuse Nationals of 1955?

Get out of here Mad Dog lol

[ScrantonBulls]

From a narrative standpoint, I think it'd be tough to top the Mavs who knocked off the champion Lakers, Big 3 OKC, then the biggest villain the league has ever seen in the Heat.

Personally though, I think this would be the craziest title run of all time, especially when you consider how the games have played out.

That Mavs team was tied for the 2nd best record in a stacked west. They beat the piss out of everybody too. I can kind of see it from a narrative standpoint. They were like a modern team and helped change the game. They were just criminally underrated going into the playoffs.

[Boardbreaker]

Not sure even the biggest pacers homer would have predicted this team to win the championship this season so that could be the case.

[Wingy]

Pistons beating the Shaq and Kobe Lakers with old men Malone and Payton has gotta be right there.

[Bank Shot]

I don't think they'd be the worst champion because they've basically been a 60-win team since Haliburton got healthy, but they definitely have an argument for most surprising. That Rockets team at least had Hakeem (their path to the ship was insane though) and were the defending champs. 2022 Warriors were pretty surprising if we're talking recent champs.

[DonaldSanders]

Yes if you are considering the entire playoff run.

No if it's just the Finals, Mavs. winning vs. LeBron's healthy Heatle super team is the biggest Finals upset.

[MrGoat]

They'd be up there. If Rick Carlisle could do it again...

[LakerLegend]

11 Mavs are a toughie.

[Heat3]

Hard to call them a cinderella team when they are a 4th seed, just 1 game back of the 3rd. Theres already been a 4th seed champ and several 3rd seed.

To call them a cinderalla team is to not give them credit for being a good team for multiple years already.

[Bank Shot]

The Pacers are a much bigger dog than the Mavericks were vs. the Heat. The Heat were only a small favorite coming in. Odds were -175/+155. There have been a lot of finals with bigger betting favorites. The Thunder were sitting around -700 coming in.

[fanofthegreats]

Not really. They are better than ock

[holdenwait]

Easily, would be Leicester City winning Premier League vibes