National Basketball Association

Bird expects NBA Finals run for Pacers

Published Sep. 25, 2013 1:00 a.m. ET

foxsports

Larry Bird boldly has proclaimed that the Indiana Pacers are “all in” and says anything less than an NBA Finals appearance this season would be a disappointment.

In an interview with The Indianapolis Star, the Pacers' president of basketball operations — who took a year off before returning to the front office this year — declared that this should be the year his team gets over the hump against the Heat and wins the Eastern Conference title.

When asked whether the Pacers could win a title, Bird said: “Anything less than (a Finals appearance or a conference finals appearance) would be a disappointment. I think anything over 50 wins is a good season, but I believe we’re built more for the playoffs than we are for the regular season — because we’re deep and we’ll have time to prepare. It’s hard to beat 10 or 11 guys.”

The return of Danny Granger — who missed all but five games last season because of an injury in his left knee — and the development of young stars like Paul George and Roy Hibbert make Bird confident the Pacers can win it all.

Bird always backed up his tough talk as a player. Now we will see whether his players can back up his talk as an executive.