Whatever training practices the Indiana Pacers are utilizing are clearly working. Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle has propelled the team to consecutive Eastern Conference Finals appearances and, most recently, a 2025 NBA Finals berth. Everything the Pacers do is intentional for success. Without spilling the beans on their philosophy, Carlisle shed light on some techniques Indiana uses to build their fast-paced endurance.
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The past two seasons, the Pacers have been one of the most dominant offensive teams in the NBA. They took the league by storm in 2023-24 with the second-best offense, behind the eventual 2024 NBA champion Boston Celtics. In 2024-25, they dropped a bit but still had the ninth-best offense.
Their offensive philosophy takes a page out of the Steve Nash-led Phoenix Suns book: a lot of space and movement, with emphasis on paint touches and three-pointers. The constant wear and tear on the body is already a lot, but the NBA didn’t do them any favors with their scheduling.
“The Conference Finals this year were an every other day thing,” Carlisle said on the Green Light podcast. “So it was seven games in 13 days.”
Neither the Pacers nor the New York Knicks had substantial time to recover between games. Luckily, the Pacers finished the Knicks off in six games. Once they made it to the NBA Finals, their journey became a bit easier.
“You get into the Finals, and it’s an 18-day series because there’s two days between every game,” Carlisle added. “You don’t get the same fatigue factor; recovery is easier.”
The Pacers needed every single rest day they could get in their grueling seven-game series against the Oklahoma City Thunder. Despite Tyrese Haliburton’s unfortunate Achilles rupture, the Pacers actively train to avoid injuries. Their practice has proven to be quite beneficial, according to their medical team.
“You got to be in shape when you get to camp. Otherwise, you’re going to be behind the curve, and that’s when injuries can really happen on a more frequent basis. The last couple of years, we’ve been doing the beep test,” Carlisle revealed.
The beep test is a standard cardio test. Players line up on one baseline and run to the half-court mark before a beep sounds. They then run back to the baseline, following the same instructions. The longer they run, the faster the beeps sound. It is an effective way to test endurance and speed, which is vital in the Pacers system.
For the Indy, this is the second consecutive offseason to follow a longer season. As a result, they will have less time to rest before training camp. But this isn’t foreign to them anymore. Although Haliburton won’t play next season, Carlisle and the rest of the team won’t roll over.
