Pacers Clinch Playoff Spot For Fourth Straight Season

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INDIANAPOLIS – In a year in which Victor Oladipo has missed more than half of the season, the Indiana Pacers will not be sweating out a playoff berth.

They clinched a spot in the postseason on Friday night, when the Miami Heat lost to the Milwaukee Bucks.

For the last week, the Pacers have had a magic number of just 1 to officially secure that playoff spot, but a winless road trip out west resulted in Indiana needing some help from those behind them in the Eastern Conference.

Still, the fact that the Pacers have locked up another postseason appearance, with their star sidelined for so much of the year, is quite the accomplishment.

At 44-29 and with nine games remaining in the regular season, the Pacers are currently in the 4^th spot of the Eastern Conference. They are a half game up on the No. 5 seed Celtics, and 3.5 games behind the No. 3 seed 76ers.

Oladipo has now been sidelined for 37 games this year and the Pacers are 19-14 without him. They have a 25-15 record with him in the lineup.

This marks the 4^th straight year the Pacers have made the playoffs. They have not won a playoff series since the 2013-14 season.

A pair of 7-game series losses, sandwiched around a 4-game sweep, make up the results of the Pacers’ last three trips to the postseason. All three of those series came with the Pacers not having homecourt.

Indiana has now made the playoffs in 8 of the last 9 seasons.