"When the Indiana Pacers got to within a game of the 2025 NBA championship, taking the heavily favored Oklahoma City Thunder the distance before losing Game 7 with Tyrese Haliburton suffering an Achilles rupture, there was an echo of the team's first run to a title game. Eighteen months earlier, the Pacers had reached the final of the inaugural NBA Cup, then, temporarily branded as the In-Season Tournament."
"And although they didn't reach the title game, the rising Orlando Magic are surely also hoping their NBA Cup run can act as a similar springboard for the postseason. Orlando has gone even longer without advancing in the playoffs than Indiana, having last done so when Dwight Howard led the Magic to the 2010 Eastern Conference finals. Meanwhile, the Spurs are well on their way to snapping the league's second-longest playoff drought, having last appeared in the first round in 2019."
Indiana’s 2025 playoff run reached Game 7 of the Finals but ended after Tyrese Haliburton suffered an Achilles rupture. Eighteen months prior, Indiana reached the inaugural NBA Cup final in Las Vegas and used lessons from that run to help advance in the postseason after a long drought. San Antonio won four consecutive must-win Cup games, including three without Victor Wembanyama, to reach the final but lost 124-113. Orlando’s Cup performance offers a potential springboard for its first postseason advancement since 2010. The Cup experience can supply high-stakes practice and momentum for the playoffs.
Read at ESPN.com
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