Ranking the best Eastern Conference teams LeBron James has destroyed

Ranking the 5 best Eastern Conference teams LeBron James has destroyed

MIAMI, FL - MAY 24: (L-R) Kyle Korver #26, Carlos Boozer #5, Derrick Rose #1, Luol Deng #9 and Joakim Noah #13 of the Chicago Bulls talk on court against the Miami Heat in Game Four of the Eastern Conference Finals during the 2011 NBA Playoffs on May 24, 2011 at American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida. The Heat won 101-93 in overtime. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Marc Serota/Getty Images) /

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INDIANAPOLIS, IN – FEBRUARY 1: George Hill #3, Paul George #24, Lance Stephenson #1 ,David West #21 and Roy Hibbert #55 of the Indiana Pacers look on against the Miami Heat on February 1, 2013 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and condition of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: 2013 NBAE (Photo by Ron Hoskins/NBAE via Getty Images) /

5. The 2013-14 Indiana Pacers

Record: 56-26, 1st in Eastern Conference

Result: 4-2 loss in Eastern Conference Finals

Heading into the 2013-14 season, the Indiana Pacers were out for blood.

James and the Miami Heat knocked them out in the 2012 Eastern Conference Semifinals—a series in which Indiana held a 2-1 lead before James and Dwyane Wade rallied Miami to three straight wins—and squeaked past them in a seven-game conference finals the following year. With Lance Stephenson set to become a free agent in the summer of 2014 and the Pacers having picked up Evan Turner at the trade deadline that year, it was now or never for Indiana.

With Evan Turner on board Pacers will basically be unbeatable now.
— Chris Palmer (@ChrisPalmerNBA) February 20, 2014

Miami, meanwhile, posted the lowest win percentage since James took his talents to South Beach in 2010, as luxury-tax concerns caused team president Pat Riley to pare down the Heat’s supporting cast. James, Wade and Chris Bosh continued to play at an All-Star level, but they were propping up the likes of Mario Chalmers, Michael Beasley and Norris Cole.

Indiana took a 1-0 series lead over Miami, but the Heat reeled off three straight wins to wrest away home-court advantage and demoralize the Pacers. A hard-fought Game 5 win extended the series by one game, but when it returned to South Beach, the Heat routed the Pacers by 25 points to extend their NBA Finals streak to four straight years.

That summer, Stephenson signed with the Charlotte Hornets and Turner fled to the Boston Celtics, while James returned home to the Cavaliers. Paul George suffered a gruesome leg injury during a Team USA scrimmage that limited him to six games in the 2014-15 season, which effectively brought an end to Indiana’s early-2010s core. David West turned down his $12 million player option in 2015-16 to go ring-chase with the San Antonio Spurs, while the Pacers shipped Roy Hibbert to the Los Angeles Lakers in July 2015 for a future second-round pick.

The Pacers later flipped George for Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis in the summer of 2017. And since time is a flat circle, Oladipo would go on to guide the Pacers to the playoffs during his first season in Indiana, only to get knocked out by James in the first round.

Next: 4. The 2014-15 Atlanta Hawks

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