Houston Rockets - New Orleans Pelicans

The Pacers win and make it to the conference finals, but I don't see any hope there. The Celtics are a much stronger team, and the Pacers have been performing poorly on the road. The Pacers played an amazing game against the Knicks and were hitting everything, but it's not possible to continue like that, especially when the Celtics are capable of catching up. After a better regular season, I expect a poor performance and an easy start for the Celtics in the series.

Both teams will finally compete with full lineups. Both teams have been consistently earning a lot of points and playing effectively in the regular season. Indiana is generally a fast-paced basketball team, but Boston should have an advantage with opponents who are weak in defense. I believe that the Celtics will not be able to stifle their opponents' defense in the first series game.

I will take a risk tonight. Pacers 1 team in NBA according to average scores per game, shooting percentage, and points scored. 2nd in fastest pace and offensive rating. They surprised everyone against the Knicks with a 67% shooting percentage, but towards the end, it dropped to about 80% against Peru. Turner and Siakam are making great use of their skills, and Halliburton is shining as well. In the playoffs, Turner has the best three-point shooting percentage of all players at 46%. Porzingis is injured, so the Pacers' big men can dominate under the basket. I'm not surprised by the Celtics, they played with poor organization and didn't show a super offense or defense, while Indiana showed an impressive offense that amazed me. Let's not forget that the Pacers beat Boston twice, including in the play-in, and now they have strengthened with Siakam. I think the Celtics may lose the first game because they won't be used to the fast pace and higher level, they will need time to adapt, while the Pacers are hot.