3 underrated Eastern Conference rivals the 76ers must watch out for

The Indiana Pacers double down on last season's success against the 76ers' refurbished roster

The Philadelphia 76ers were involved in a nasty back-and-forth playoff series against the New York Knicks last April. While, New York was able to get through the 76ers team in six games, they appeared gashed and hurt when they played the next round against the Indiana Pacers. In a sense, the 76ers helped Indiana make the Eastern Conference Finals last season, but the Tyrese Haliburton-led team had enough talent to see the Knicks off.

The Pacers have a bunch of highly skilled players on a roster headlined by Haliburton, Pascal Siakam, and Myles Turner. In addition to those three, you can add to the mix the shot-making ability of Andrew Nembhard and the physical toughness of Aaron Nesmith. Outside a star-ridden starting five, they have enough depth to compete against anybody.

Indiana is a highly skilled offensive team, and they can run a very efficient offense led by one of the best playmakers in the league. Philadelphia value as a contender will be tested seriously against the Pacers, especially with the Sixers being the older team with many veterans and injury-prone players in its roster. Indiana kept the majority of their key roster pieces and will try to improve even more from last year.

The Pacers and 76ers won the same amount (47) of games last year, but Indiana won the last two contests against them. In addition, they scored more than 122 points in each of the last season's games against Philly. The two franchises will meet on Sunday, October 27 for the first matchup of the 2024-25 regular season campaign.