What Did Celtics Legends Say About Pacers?

Don't let the 2-3 start fool you. The Indiana Pacers are the second-best team in the Eastern Conference, according to two Boston Celtics legends. 2008 NBA champions and Celtics ambassadors Paul Pierce and Garnett shared their optimism for the Pacers.

"I want to apologize to the Pacers, man. Straight up, because they earned that," Garnett said . In the preseason, critics and analysts didn't show Indiana the proper respect of an Eastern Conference Finals runner-up, especially considering it kept its roster and Bennedict Mathurin's return from injury.



However, perhaps the "naysayers" had a right to doubt the Pacers, as they sit 2-3 and nearly lost to the Celtics on Wednesday despite holding a 24-point lead. Pierce expounded on why the Pacers deserve more esteem from the NBA universe. "I was like, man, please don't sleep on the Pacers, Pierce said.

"In the East, I think the Pacers are the second-best team because I think they are tough to keep up with. Pace. And they got depth.

Because now you got Mathurin back. He wasn't even back last year." In fairness to Pierce and Garnett, All the Smoke Productions filmed this Ticket and The Truth podcast on Oct.

24. Related: What Stat is Costing Pacers Improvement? But perhaps it's too early to judge Indiana's poor start. The Pacers showcased their offensive firepower by putting up a 24-point lead against the reigning NBA champions.

There is potential, but a few aspects of their offense need grooming. Furthermore, the defense overall needs an upgrade to compete with the athletically imposing teams of the Eastern Conference. Furthermore, the fact that such hardcore Celtics ambassadors share such positive takes about the Pacers speaks volumes about what the Rick Carlisle-coached team can accomplish.

However, if the Pacers keep playing at this shaky rate, the two Celtics legends will likely denounce their previous take..