5 things the Indiana Pacers can do to call this season a success

1. Win a playoff series

Yeah. Harder than it sounds.

Truth be told, despite any success the Pacers have accomplished thus far, their season will ultimately be evaluated by both outsiders and their own front office by how far they took it. There is no reason as of now that this Indiana Pacers team shouldn’t be able to beat the Milwaukee Bucks or Washington Wizards in a playoff series.

But here’s the rub.

If they end up playing the Cavs, Celtics or Raptors, they will have to take it to six or seven games and go down swinging for this to be a season worth remembering. Granted, they are way ahead of their rebuild timeline, but that doesn’t mean fans will be happy to see a team with a ton of potential get swept out of the first round.

Next: 2017-18 Week 18 NBA Power Rankings

There is still a lot of basketball left to play, but one thing is for sure as the Eastern Conference contending teams continue to decline in their timelines: The Pacers have all the right ingredients for another great era of basketball.