2024 NBA Playoffs - East 1st Round: #3 Milwaukee Bucks vs. #6 Indiana Pacers (IND WINS 4-2)

[xxSnEaKyPxx]

Giannis scored 54 points against them. Then later career high 64. And then they took his game ball. So, yeah. Good luck lol. If Giannis is playing, Indiana ain't winning.

It’s so wild to me, that it has been proven numerous times, and even admitted to by Bucks players, that the Pacers never took his game ball, and yet despite all that, there is still a massive amount of people who still believe they did.

[xxSnEaKyPxx]

Milwaukee in 5. Indiana will learn what playoff basketball really is like. Those 125+ games won't fly with the physical refs.

I somewhat agree, but I have the Bucks in 6.

The Pacers are a young and inexperienced team when it comes to playoff basketball(outside of Siakam.)

Haliburton is finally starting to look healthy again, but overall, it’s just a young team going against Giannis and co.

I fully expect Giannis to just destroy the souls of the Pacers, shooting like 15 FTs a game.

This season was all about getting some playoff experience to build on, then hopefully next year we can make some noise.

Really wish we had Mathurin though, he could have been a game changer off the bench in the playoffs.

[xxSnEaKyPxx]

Indiana has their number

Regular season means nothing.

Especially when going up against a talent like Giannis. Having Siakam should help a little there, but I just don’t know how we stop him.

[xxSnEaKyPxx]

No point of attack defender on bucks.
Indiana runs 100% from the point of attack.

I dont see Milwaukee winning this series.

Milwaukee needed to trade for a defensive guard at the deadline but I don't think they had any assets. So now they are relying on PatBev.

Losing Mathurin is a big deal, he was great for the Pacers. And Hield was great for stretching the floor. I haven't seen much of them in the last month, but I still take Indy in this one. Bucks look mediocre most nights and Doc's playoff coaching is.. well Doc. So unless Giannis has 15 FTs a game and all of Indy's bigs are in foul trouble idk what their plan is. Hope for Dame to buy them a game?

Losing Mathurin definitely hurts, but Buddy would have been unplayable in the playoffs.

If he got super hot, then sure, but if he wasn’t scorching, he was such a liability on defense that he would have killed them.

It was wild watching games and just watching teams target him possession after possession, until the Pacers would be forced to sub him out.

[Jadoogar]

Obviously this is all dependent on Giannis. If he's healthy, they should destroy the Pacers.
Without Giannis, it's much more of a toss up but i think i still lean Bucks just because Dame has proven it before.

[hauntedcomputer]

Dame and Doc show how overrated they are. Pacers in five, Giannis eyeing New York.

[Profound23]

Obviously this is all dependent on Giannis. If he's healthy, they should destroy the Pacers.
Without Giannis, it's much more of a toss up but i think i still lean Bucks just because Dame has proven it before.

Without Giannis, the Bucks win 1 game because that one game Dame/Beasley/Middleton get hot. If Giannis plays but is still hurt like the Miami series, they win two.

If he is actually healthy, Bucks win the series 4-2....but I have much doubt he will be healthy enough to do Giannis type of things.

[ChipotleWest]

Doc Rivers: The Pacers have had our number all season. Perfect opponent.

He seems defeated already. He just got there.

[bisme37]

Read on Twitter

[buckboy]

Good luck to the Pacers and their 4 RealGm fans. One of the few teams in the East that I don't despise.

I think the Bucks get it done, but won't be surprised if they don't.

[buckboy]

I do enjoy the "Giannis is gonna leave" dopes.

How's that worked out so far?

[jowglenn]

The Pacers have been hitting their stride the last month; very high net rating, 13-7 in their last 20 games. Haliburton has recovered from his injury, the rotation has been figured out without Mathurin, the team is clicking.

The Bucks are 8-12 in their last 20 games. Giannis freshly injured, might miss some games or not be 100%.

The Pacers should be straight up favored in this series.

[daschysta]

bucks successfully ducked the sixers

Yeah, they ducked the sixers so they could face the team they’re 1-4 against this season. Bold strategy.

With that said though… the Pacers in the second half of this season aren’t the same team that they were during the first half. Hali hasn’t been as good and Siakam hasn’t really improved the Pacers the way I was expecting him to. So this one is tough to call for me.

Pacers have like the 4th best net rating in the nba after all star break and finished the year about 13-6. They've also improved defensively while maintaining elite offense. By any metric the Pacers are vastly improved and that's while hali rehabs and plays his way back from his hammy.

[ajones9219]

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[jimmybones]

Read on Twitter

Bro, you've posted like 10 times in this thread. The Bucks suck and will lose, we get it. Sit a few plays out brother, catch your breath, it's okay

[ajones9219]

Read on Twitter

Bro, you've posted like 10 times in this thread. The Bucks suck and will lose, we get it. Sit a few plays out brother, catch your breath, it's okay

My team doesn't have a thread yet and I live a few hours from Indy. God forbid I post about other series that I care about on an NBA General board while my "Saltics" get trashed on the Milwaukee board. Sorry if I hurt your feelings brother.

[Wizop]

Who are the Pacers 2s and 3s? Nesmith and ????? I know the Bucks are a confusing team this year but they'll win in 5 or 6

Nesmith starts at the 3 and Nembhard starts at the 2. Haliburton will get some minutes at the 2 when TJ McConnell comes in for Nembhard. Sheppard should get second unit minutes on the wing over McDermott as he's a much better defender but if the moment is too big for the rookier, Doug will play some. It's also possible that Siakam will get some minutes at the 3 should we go big.

Expect either Haliburton or Siakam to be on the court at all times. Teams often shorten to 8 man rotations in the playoffs but the Pacers second unit has been a key to our success so I wonder if we'll keep fresh legs on the floor with our regular 10-11 man rotation.

Bucks should be the favorites but I don't see them winning in 6 as that game will be in Indy. If the Pacers do win, 6 seems the likely spot.

[MartyConlonOnTheRun]

I do wonder if the Bucks discuss sitting out Giannis game 1 and see if they can steal it and have him sit out the first 2 making it a best of 5 with him having a full 2 weeks off.

[Wolfgang630]

Bucks steal game 1? What they have home court advantage lol

[JasonStern]

Rooting for the Bucks because of what Dame did for Portland. But if the Bucks go up 3-1, we all know how this ends.