Indiana Pacers

If Indiana is serious about playing deep into spring, the core adjustment is converting their transition identity into a half-court system that still generates layups and corner threes — just against a set defense that knows what’s coming.

Start with the Haliburton diet: high ball screens, re-screens, and “next action” flow. In the regular season, a single high pick-and-roll often creates a chain reaction because of pace. In the playoffs, teams switch earlier, peel switch on the back side, or top-lock shooters to remove the easy kick-out. Indiana’s counter has to be automatic: short-roll playmaking (4-on-3 reads), ghost screens to punish switch-hunting, and weak-side screening (pin-ins and Spain elements) that forces defenders to communicate rather than simply load up.

Spacing is the lever. Haliburton is most lethal when the weak side is occupied by true shooting gravity, not stationary bodies. That means emphasizing lineups with two credible corners and a big who can either (a) sprint into a rim run that demands the low man or (b) pop to pull the five out of the paint. If the Pacers’ center is purely a dive threat, playoff opponents will “tag and recover” off the least dangerous shooter and live with above-the-break attempts. Indiana’s answer is to make the tag expensive: corner relocation on the catch, 45 cuts behind ball-watching defenders, and scripted empty-corner pick-and-rolls that remove help by alignment.