As everyone expected, the Pacers have played nearly a month of basketball and currently have a better record (6-6) than the , Miami Heat (6-7), Chicago Bulls (6-8), and Brooklyn Nets (6-8) — all of whom were playoff teams last season. The sample size remains small and context is certainly needed with regard to adding wins with rest advantages against Miami (without Jimmy Butler) and Toronto (without Fred VanVleet and Pascal Siakam), but there’s still enough action in the books to be surprised by some of the process as well as the results.
Pacers podcast: Biggest surprises from surprising Pacers
