Steve Aschburner

Chicago

Senior Writer at NBA.com

Senior writer, https://t.co/3l7cVNS0qP, in Chicago. Photo-bombed Wilt, '97. Raised KG from a Timberpup.

Articles

7 biggest questions that will shape 2025 NBA Finals

2 days ago | nba.com | Steve Aschburner

Download the NBA App2025 NBA playoffs scheduleNBA playoffs: Bracket & complete coverageOKLAHOMA CITY — If the NBA’s championship series can be considered the last test before summer for each of the participating teams — their Finals exam, so to speak — one advantage over the college and high school versions that tormented so many of us is, these guys know the questions in advance. Now it’s all about how the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Indiana Pacers answer them.
2025 NBA Finals: Pacers shock the world with underdog journey

3 days ago | nba.com | Steve Aschburner

Download the NBA App2025 NBA playoffs scheduleNBA playoffs: Bracket & complete coverageLike a lot of stories, the simplest way to begin is with the ending. In the case of the Indiana Pacers, the ending that really matters for where their team is now came 53 weeks ago. That’s when the mighty Boston Celtics, rolling through a 16-3 postseason to the 2024 NBA championship, swept the Pacers in four games.
Knicks-Pacers: 5 takeaways as Indiana eliminates New York, advances to 2025 Finals

5 days ago | nba.com | Steve Aschburner

Download the NBA App2025 NBA playoffs scheduleNBA playoffs: Bracket & complete coverageINDIANAPOLIS – Indiana coach Rick Carlisle had started counting off his team’s Eastern Conference championship series from the get-go, not by victories, but by duration. “This is just Day 1 of 13 days,” Carlisle said after the Pacers pulled off an improbable, exhilarating, overtime victory over the Knicks in the opener in New York.
Knicks-Pacers: 5 takeaways as Haliburton puts Pacers on brink with Game 4 win

1 week ago | nba.com | Steve Aschburner

Download the NBA App2025 NBA playoffs scheduleNBA playoffs: Bracket & complete coverageINDIANAPOLIS – John Haliburton was in the house Tuesday, but out of harm’s way, sequestered in a suite at Gainbridge Fieldhouse rather than his customary floor seat. That’s where the NBA’s best-known “Bad Dad” got into trouble heckling Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo after the Pacers’ first-round clincher last month.
Pacers slow down after racing ahead in Game 3, left chasing their success

1 week ago | nba.com | Steve Aschburner

Download the NBA App2025 NBA playoffs scheduleNBA playoffs: Bracket & complete coverageINDIANAPOLIS – Credit first, blame later, fix it all as quickly as you can after that. That was the Indiana Pacers’ process in working through the whys of their blown lead against the Knicks in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals.
Knicks-Pacers: 5 takeaways as New York rallies in Game 3 to make it a series

1 week ago | nba.com | Steve Aschburner

Download the NBA App2025 NBA playoffs scheduleNBA playoffs: Bracket & complete coverageINDIANAPOLIS – With so many speedy guys in town Sunday, it was ironic that the Indiana Pacers would have downshifted, sputtered and finally stalled out short of their intended checkered flag against the New York Knicks at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. The Pacers, the most offensively potent of the four teams left in the conference finals, were held to a postseason low in their 106-100 Game 3 loss to the Knicks.
Looking back at 7 memorable Pacers playoff comebacks

1 week ago | nba.com | Steve Aschburner

Download the NBA App2025 NBA playoffs scheduleNBA playoffs: Bracket & complete coverageOne man’s ceiling is another man’s floor, just like one team’s comeback is another team’s collapse. Generally, it is a matter of perspective. Yet when it happens time and time again in favor of one particular team, it begins to feel like something worthy of praise rather than divvying up multiple shares of blame.
Jalen Brunson among 12 difference-makers in conference finals

2 weeks ago | nba.com | Steve Aschburner

Download the NBA App2025 NBA playoffs scheduleNBA playoffs: Bracket & complete coverageThere are, each NBA postseason, two kinds of difference-makers: stars and X-factors. Either can boost a team for a game, a series or even the entire playoff run. The primary distinction between them comes when things don’t go so well. Players considered X-factors don’t face the same obligations or scrutiny as stars do. Someone whose contributions are viewed as a happy bonus in good times can hide in bad times.
NBA playoffs: What to expect in Knicks-Pacers series

2 weeks ago | nba.com | Steve Aschburner

Download the NBA App2025 NBA playoffs scheduleNBA playoffs: Bracket & complete coverageWhen the smoke cleared this week in the Eastern bracket of the NBA playoffs, the conference’s two season-long juggernaut teams were nowhere to be found. Cleveland (64) and Boston (61) each won upwards of 60 times this year, but failing four times in a span of 10 days was enough to send both into early summers. Still standing: the New York Knicks and the Indiana Pacers.
Timberwolves-Warriors: 5 takeaways as Minnesota returns to West Finals

3 weeks ago | nba.com | Steve Aschburner

Download the NBA App2025 NBA playoffs scheduleNBA playoffs: Bracket & complete coverageNo apologies. No one was asking the Minnesota Timberwolves to make any, and the defeated Golden State Warriors weren’t expecting any after having their postseason ended with scoring star Stephen Curry in street clothes for the final four games. All losses.