For the first time in four years, the Indiana Pacers are in the playoffs. It’ll be different from the 2020 bubble playoffs, since this time there will be fans in attendance.
The Pacers haven’t won a playoff series since Paul George and the beat the Heat days in 2014. They haven’t won a playoff game since their victory over the LeBron-led Cleveland Cavaliers April 27, 2018, to force a game seven. Since then, Indiana has been on a nine-game playoff losing streak.
With a 157-115 victory over the Atlanta Hawks Sunday, the team clinched the sixth seed, escaping the play-in tournament. Their first round matchup? The third-seeded Milwaukee Bucks.
This season, a rivalry was born between Indiana and Milwaukee.
On Dec. 8th, in the In-Season Tournament semifinals in Las Vegas, both teams were locked into a battle, trading buckets.
With about a minute left in the game, the Pacers were up five with the ball. All-star guard Tyrese Haliburton had the ball in isolation and sunk a stepback three-point dagger to send his team to the championship game. Afterword, he made a gesture with his wrist, mimicking Bucks guard Damian Lillard’s famous celebration, "Dame Time.” He exclaimed, “I know what time it is. It’s my time.”
Lillard responded with “be humble” when having your moment, and so drama began. On Dec. 14, the Bucks won their first and only game of the season series in a contest that saw All-Star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo score a career-high, franchise record 64 points. He wanted the game ball for the occasion, but Pacers rookie Oscar Tshiebwe scored his first official NBA basket in the game, so they also wanted the ball.
This led to a tunnel scuffle after Antetokounmpo and other Bucks players assumed the Pacers took the ball for themselves. However, later video clips showed that a Milwaukee staff member got the ball after the final buzzer went off.
After the Pacers won their fourth out of five games with the Bucks Jan. 3, Milwaukee guard Malik Beasley joined Chris Haynes’ podcast, saying “I know we’re going to play them in the playoffs, and boy, it’s not going to be pretty for them.”
Another segment that had fans speculating a rivalry happened during the All-Star weekend in Indianapolis. First, in the three-point contest which Haliburton also competed in, Lillard won his second straight and was presented with the trophy to a shower of boos.
Then, in the All-star game the following night, Lillard won the MVP trophy over Haliburton, after scoring 39 points to go with six assists, and the boos rang even louder. This was mainly because the home fans felt their star was robbed, as Haliburton posted 32 points, six assists and seven rebounds on more efficient shooting numbers.
While all of this drama could play a part in the series, there is a big difference between the regular season and the postseason. Yes, Indiana won the season series 4-1, but that record falls back to 0-0 starting on Apr. 21.
The Pacers are a different team than they were in January, as they no longer have guards Bruce Brown and Buddy Hield, and acquired former All-Star forward Pascal Siakim. The Bucks are slightly different as well, with Doc Rivers shockingly replacing Adrian Griffin as head coach on Jan. 26.
Antetokounmpo averaged 42.2 points, 13 rebounds and five assists in the five games, but with him likely sidelined for 2-4 weeks, Milwaukee will need to find a way to win without him. This could play a huge role, as Lillard will need to step up and carry the team past Indiana in the first game. He averaged 20.3 points on 32.4 percent from the field and 26.5 percent from the perimeter, to go with five assists and five rebounds in the season series.
Haliburton averaged 27 points, 11 assists and five rebounds.
With Antetokounmpo being sidelined for the series, I think the Pacers will capitalize and steal one or both games in Milwaukee, before winning both games three and four at home. I predict an Indiana win five or six games.
This should be an exciting series due to star play and regular season drama, and Indy fans are expected to pack Gainbridge Fieldhouse for games three and four, seeing as the city hasn’t hosted a playoff game since April 21, 2019 when they were defeated by the Boston Celtics.
Game one in Milwaukee takes place Sunday, Apr. 21 at Fiserv Forum at 7 p.m..
Contact Derran Cobb with comments at derran.cobb@bsu.edu or on Twitter @Derran_cobb.
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