The Sacramento Kings seemingly came out of nowhere to take the NBA by storm last season, and one league insider believes the Indiana Pacers and Minnesota Timberwolves could do the same in 2023-24.
The new NBA season is about a month old and there have already been some interesting developments. The Philadelphia 76ers have the best record in the league and have shown that James Harden was only holding them back. The Boston Celtics offseason additions have fit in perfectly with their new team, and the Denver Nuggets are once again the creme of the Western Conference crop.
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However, those teams performing well was expected. The really fascinating storylines are the units that have surprised with how they’ve begun the 2023-24 NBA schedule. Two of the most notable are the Indiana Pacers (6-4) and Minnesota Timberwolves (7-2).
Both squads have top-10 records heading into the week and seem like they could make a run at a playoff spot in the spring. However, NBC Sports NBA managing editor and lead writer Kurt Helin believes both teams have the potential to make serious noise in their perspective conferences all season long.
“I’m not totally sold yet on Dallas, but Minnesota is for real,” Helin told Sportsnaut. “Also, I feel like there’s a pressure on Minnesota. Next year, they are just boxed in financially. Edwards and Towns got max contract extensions kicking in. This feels like this is a one-year big swing and then they’re going to have to make some moves.”
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Minnesota has the No. 1 defense in the NBA entering the week as they give up just 103.1 points per game.
Indiana Pacers can be the Sacramento Kings of 2023-2024
While Helin has concerns about what the Timberwolves will look like after this season, he seems to be a big believer in the Indiana Pacers. The roster is built around former Kings first-round pick Tyrese Haliburton and has a mostly young team that should be together for a few more years If they can fix their issues on defense, he believes Indiana can be one of the four best teams in the Eastern Conference.
“I think the Indiana Pacers are legit,” he said.” Their defense has not been great this season but they’ve had a top three [caliber] offense in the NBA. Tyrese Haliburton was fantastic in FIBA ball, [and] he has really shown out [this season].
“This is a team that’s going to put up a lot of points in an East where there’s a top-three pecking order, but [the Pacers] might be the fourth-best team, or they’re at least in the conversation with the Knicks, and whoever else,” he added. “I think that once their defense comes around, I think they’re legit. They were a team I liked before the season and they have kind of lived up to the hype for me.”
At the start of the week, the Indiana Pacers lead the NBA in scoring (126.0 points per game) and are second in the league in three-point field goal percentage (38.9). However, they give up the fourth most points in the NBA (123.1), so Helin’s thought that if they could improve just a bit on defense they would be a handful for many teams this season.