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Five tiebreakers lost, fighting Jordan, fighting James and O Neal all failed, and it was difficult to break the curse

7:03am, 10 July 2025【Basketball】

In NBA playoff history, the Pacers' "tie-seven story" is full of tragedy. They entered the Eastern Conference Final four times and failed in the tiebreak four times. Their opponents were legends like Ewing, O'Neal, Jordan, and James. They finally entered the finals this year, and it was still difficult to break the curse against the Thunder, and they lost the fifth tiebreak. Every fight is tenacious enough, but always misses the victory at the last moment.

In the 1994 Eastern Conference Final, Reggie Miller led the Pacers against Ewing's Knicks. In the Battle of Tianwang Mountain, Miller scored 25 points in the fourth quarter to help the team win the match point, but Pat Riley locked Miller with Starks in G6 and dragged the series into tiebreak. In the tiebreak, Ewing completely dominated the offense and defense: 24 points, 22 rebounds, 7 assists, 5 blocks, the Pacers only grabbed 29 rebounds (22 fewer than the Knicks), and unfortunately lost in the collective downturn. This is the beginning of the Pacers' Seven Curse, and the opponent is the absolute suppression of the peak center.

In the 1995 Eastern Conference Final, the Pacers played against O'Neal and Hardaway's Magic (57 wins the Eastern Conference No. 1). G4 became a classic: 13 seconds before the final game, Brian Shaw overtook the three-pointer, and Miller immediately responded with a three-pointer; in the last 1.3 seconds, Hardaway overtook the jump shot, Pacers center Schmitz turned and jumped to the final score, tied the big score to 2-2. In the seventh game, O'Neal turned into a monster in the penalty area, hitting 25 points + 16 rebounds, Miller was missed by a key defense of three-pointers, and the Pacers lost again. This defeat was defeated by the absolute dominance of the "Big Shark". In the 1998 Eastern Conference Final, the Pacers met Jordan who was "the last dance". They were the only team that made the Bulls lose 3 games of the season, and 2.9 seconds before the end of the G4, Miller pushed Jordan to score the winning goal to tie the score. Although they still lost the tiebreak, the Pacers had no regrets - they fought with the God of Basketball until the end, Miller's toughness and the team's resilience became the "uncrowned legend" in the hearts of fans. In the 2013 Eastern Conference Final, Paul George, Stephenson and Hibert formed the Pacers Youth Army to challenge the Heat Big Three who are determined to defend their title. No one was optimistic about them, but George broke out, Hibert turned into "Black Yao Ming", Stephenson stole James, and dragged the series into tiebreak. In the seventh game, the two sides fought bloody battles until the last moment, and the Pacers were finally defeated. This defeat was defeated by the experience of the Big Three and the dominance of the peak James.

This year, the Pacers finally rushed out of the East and played against the league's No. 1 Thunder in the Finals. They withstood the controversial penalty and dragged the series into tiebreak - this time the opponent is no longer Jordan, James, O'Neal, Ewing, and Alexander's dominance is far less than his predecessors.

But fate still does not stand on the side of the Pacers, and they failed again. In the five tiebreaks, the opponents from legendary center to basketball god, from the Big Three to the new generation of stars, the Pacers' tenacity has never changed, but they always missed victory in the last step, becoming the most tragic "tie seven background board" in the NBA.