Last season was a disappointment for the Indiana Pacers virtually every way you look at it. From the ridiculous pile of injuries to the missed playoff run to the ending of a very popular era, there wasn’t a lot to feel good about during the Paul George’s lost year. Really the biggest positive was that Indiana still wound up bad enough to find themselves in the NBA draft lottery with a chance to pick Myles Turner.

This season, though, the Pacers have turned the page — maybe even ripped it out and bought a whole new book — on their previous era and thrust themselves into a new “pace and space” style of play that, despite the team’s 0-2 start so far, has yielded some exciting new possibilities for this team.

Have there been bumps so far? Yes, and considering the scope of this team’s changes, there will continue to be bumps. But it’s extremely early, and the team lost its second game against a veteran Memphis Grizzlies game on the second night of a back to back.

So there are plenty of reasons to be excited about this team’s prospects for this season. The Indiana Pacers can even make the playoffs.

With that cautious optimism in tow, we have taken the liberty of laying out some of the underlying reasons to believe in Indiana’s playoff hopes for this season. Many expert don’t believe in the possibility of a Pacers playoff run, but it is very possible. Here are five reasons why.