Pacers Loss Locks in Playoff Seed, First-Round Opponent

The Indiana Pacers' 129-115 defeat against the Orlando Magic on Friday has guaranteed their playoff seed this year.

Per Dustin Dopirak, Indiana will now indeed be the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference, regardless of the outcome of their final game of the 2024-25 regular season on Saturday. Thanks to the Milwaukee Bucks' 125-119 defeat of the Detroit Pistons, Indiana will enjoy a rematch of its 2024 first round series, which saw a sixth-seeded Pacers squad upset the third-seeded Bucks.

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Granted, Milwaukee was missing its best player, nine-time All-Star power forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, for the entirety of that six-game series. Nine-time All-Star point guard Damian Lillard was on the shelf for two bouts.

Pacers loss locks them into the No. 4 seed and the Knicks at the 3. Bucks win locks them into the 5 and Pistons to the 6. So those playoff matchups are set and there will be a Pacers-Bucks rematch.
— Dustin Dopirak (@DustinDopirak) April 12, 2025

The Pacers fell to a 49-32 record on the year, and still have a shot at their first 50-win season since 2013-14, when they won 56 and advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals.

Will Indiana be able to replicate or even better its surprising run back to the Eastern Conference Finals last spring, where it fell in four games to the Knicks? Time will tell, but this should be a pretty favorable first round playoff matchup for the Pacers.

Indiana head coach Rick Carlisle like had this very outcome in mind when he and Pacers brass elected to sit all of the team's starters ahead of the Magic matchup.

Injury Report for tonight’s game against the Magic:

Ben Sheppard - Doubtful (left great toe sprain)
Tyrese Haliburton - Out (lower back injury management)
Andrew Nembhard - Out (left thumb laceration)
Aaron Nesmith - Out (rest)
Pascal Siakam - Out (right elbow injury management)… pic.twitter.com/r3ANxnpQTe
— Indiana Pacers (@Pacers) April 11, 2025

With All-Stars Tyrese Haliburton (lower back injury management) and Pascal Siakam (right elbow injury management), 3-and-D center Myles Turner (right knee injury management), wings Andrew Nembhard (left thumb laceration) and Aaron Nesmith (rest) all shelved, Carlisle opted to start an unorthodox first five.

Carlisle's new group comprised point guard TJ McConnell, shooting guard Bennedict Mathurin, small forward Jarace Walker, power forward Obi Toppin, and center Thomas Bryant.

new-look starting five 👀 pic.twitter.com/KDd2ebFHCQ
— Indiana Pacers (@Pacers) April 11, 2025

Mathurin, who's stepped in to start a lot this year due to long-term injuries to Nembhard and Nesmith, led all Pacers scorers with 20 points on a paltry 5-of-17 shooting from the floor (1-of-4 from deep) and 9-of-13 shooting from the charity stripe, plus eight rebounds, three assists and two steals.

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For more news and notes on the Indiana Pacers, visit Indiana Pacers on SI.