The Pacers finally found an identity just in time for the NBA playoffs

The Pacers clinched the No. 7 seed in the NBA playoffs on Wednesday night after defeating the Hawks, 104-86. The Pacers won their final five games of the season, which allowed them into sneak in ahead of the No. 8 Bulls. It came down to the final game of the season to determine if the Pacers would have a playoff spot, but they got the job done.

The Pacers looked all but dead and out of the playoffs near the end of March, with many thinking the season was already over. They were in desperation mode, so Larry Bird went and did something quite desperate. He brought Indiana cult hero Lance Stephenson back home to Indiana.

After the Pacers had to let Rodney Stuckey go due to injury, it opened up a roster spot for Stephenson. It was a gamble, but it appears to have worked. Since bringing back Stephenson, the Pacers are 5-1 with their only loss coming in a double-overtime game in Cleveland. A game where Paul George and LeBron James battled like it was 2014 again while Stephenson fueled the fire.

It hasn’t been Lance’s spectacular play that has made the Pacers suddenly play well — it has been his energy. He has brought a fire and identity to a Pacers team that has been looking for it all season. It’s only been six games but he appears to be the missing link that has finally brought this mismatched roster together.

It also helps that Paul George has been unstoppable during March and April. George has been shooting 50.1 percent from the field and 41.8 percent from the three-point line. He also brought home Eastern Conference Player of the Week during the Pacers’ most important stretch of the season, leading the East in scoring with 31.7 points per game over that span. The Pacers went 3-0 during the week as well, allowing them to sneak into seventh place.

It was a rough season at times for the Pacers. They started with virtually an entirely new team. Indiana had a new coach in Nate McMillan, traded away George Hill for Jeff Teague, and added Thaddeus Young, Aaron Brooks, Kevin Seraphin, and Al Jefferson. For most of the season, they hovered around the .500 mark, never really finding their identity.

It got even worse when Young went down with a wrist injury at the beginning of February. He missed eight games and the Pacers struggled, going 2-6 during that time. It was then that the Pacers really lost their way and started to drift out of the playoff picture. It wasn’t until April 2 that Young was able to play without tape on his wrist, but his return has also been huge for the team.

And now, with George cooking, Stephenson leading the bench, and the rest of the team finding their roles, the Pacers have found their groove at just the right time.