You are more likely to be struck by lightning than the Pacers were to win their playoff comebacks

byadmin
June 8, 2025
You are more likely to be struck by lightning than the Pacers were to win their playoff comebacks You are more likely to be struck by lightning than the Pacers were to win their playoff comebacks

When the Indiana Pacers trailed the Oklahoma City Thunder by 9 points with 2 minutes and 52 seconds left in Game 1 of the NBA Finals, ESPN’s win probability model gave the Pacers only a 3.6% chance to win.

Not only did the Pacers overcome that deficit to win 111-110 and take a 1-0 lead in the series, that wasn’t even Indiana’s most improbable comeback this postseason.

The Pacers have become the masters of the come-from-behind victory in the 2025 playoffs, pulling off at least one miracle in each round.

In Game 5 of the conference quarterfinals, Indiana overcame a 7-point deficit against the Milwaukee Bucks in the final 39 seconds of overtime — when the Pacers’ odds of winning were only 2.1% — and won 119-118.

In Game 2 of the conference semifinals, Indiana had only a 4.1% chance of winning when it trailed the Cleveland Cavaliers by 7 with 57.1 seconds to go, but the Pacers ultimately won 120-119.

And in Game 1 of the conference finals, Indiana pulled off a never-before-seen comeback against the New York Knicks, rallying from 14 points down with 2 minutes and 51 seconds to go in the fourth quarter before winning 138-135 in overtime — the odds of which were 0.3%.

While winning even one of these games was a highly improbable task for the Pacers, winning all four was extremely unlikely.

How unlikely, exactly? Well, you’d have a better chance of being struck by lightning, for starters.

Here’s how the Pacers’ four biggest comebacks stack up against some other rare events.

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