Indiana Pacers to Suffer 'Hangover' After Conference Finals Run?

During last year's NBA playoffs, the Indiana Pacers went on a tear, beating the Milwaukee Bucks and New York Knicks before finally falling to the Boston Celtics in the Conference Finals.

With their core coming back, a healthy Bennedict Mathurin added to the fold, and improved development and chemistry, expecting the Pacers to be back in the mix is perfectly reasonable, but in a top-heavy Eastern Conference, some experts expect Indiana to be on the outside looking in.

A recent Eastern Conference projection by The Athletic has the Pacers as the seventh seed, finishing 44-38 behind the Bucks, Orlanod Magic, Philadelphia 76ers, Knicks, and Celtics.

After a dramatic run to the Conference Finals, the Pacers are expected to be the "hangover" team. While other beasts in the East got better, Indiana opted to stand pat this offseason. However, their increased chemistry, now that Pascal Siakam has an entire offseason under his belt, cannot be understated .

Indiana's depth was praised, but their star duo of Siakam and Haliburton allegedly can't hang with the big boys.

"At the top end, however, this roster pales next to the conference’s big four," wrote John Hollinger. "Haliburton-Siakam is a solid nucleus, but the Pacers are a star short of their rivals."

Reminder: Indiana did beat the Bucks and Knicks last postseason. Granted, the Knicks are an entirely different team with the addition of Karl-Anthony Towns and Mikal Bridges, but they are far from perfect . The Bucks, who were also ranked ahead of them, had a fairly quiet offseason. Unless Taurean Prince and Gary Trent Jr. were the missing pieces all along, Indiana's run-and-gun offense will be hard for Milwaukee to keep up with.

Related: Pacers Struggled With Physicality in Preseason Loss to Grizzlies

Indiana is still a step behind the mighty Celtics, but the Pacers have a proven track record as of late, and other Eastern Conference teams should be chasing the team that sent them home, not the other way around.