RealGM

The Pacers will need Turner's rim protection on Wednesday against a Bucks team that ranks third in the NBA in points in the paint, averaging 55.1 points per game in the interior. The biggest reason for that is 6-11 forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, one of the top candidates for MVP honors after the first quarter of the season.

Antetokounmpo seemingly scores at will despite posing no real threat as a jump shooter (he's shooting a dismal 11.9 percent from 3-point range). The Greek Freak ranks sixth in the league in scoring at 26.5 points per game and is shooting 57.5 percent from the field. He's also fourth in the league in rebounding, pulling down 13 per contest, and dishes out six assists per night.

Antetokounmpo was a late scratch from Milwaukee's win over Cleveland on Monday due to neck soreness, but the Bucks are hopeful he is back on the court Wednesday.

Wheat Hotchkiss
https://www.nba.com/pacers/preview-pacers-bucks-181212

HUGE game. We're 1.5 games back from them and they already smoked us once.

Gonna be tough.

I just want them to be more competitive than before. They were ran out of the gym in the Bucks home opener. Thad has seemed to get his feet under him so I think he will defend The Freak better. I hope we move the ball on offense and rotate well on defense. Movement can keep us in the game. Ball control and efficiency will get us the win.

Revenge game. Go get it Pacers

Congrats on the win tonight, you guys played an amazing game. McMillan deserves a lot of respect, I've never seen Giannis shut down like this in his entire career. It's obvious you guys did your homework and wanted this game more. Bucks should be studying footage of this game the rest of the season.

great win.

Thad dominated the game and held Giannis in check. On to Philadelphia.

Jake0890 wrote:great win.

Thad dominated the game and held Giannis in check. On to Philadelphia.

have to wonder if 34 was 100%, but Thad had a huge game. Philly lost too. standings really bunched. on to Frday.

Sent from my phone.

Wizop wrote:

Jake0890 wrote:great win.

Thad dominated the game and held Giannis in check. On to Philadelphia.

have to wonder if 34 was 100%, but Thad had a huge game. Philly lost too. standings really bunched. on to Frday.

Sent from my phone.

Don’t look now, but we’re .5 games out of 2nd place...

Myles with four 3 pointers?

I had a meeting last night and didn't get home until the 3rd quarter. Caught the 1st part of the 3rd with Boyle and Slick. Man what a treat those 2 are. Helluva win. Really didn't expect Vic to play. Didn't expect us to play Giannis that well. Didn't expect us to win. I'm not surprised. This team has overcome expectations the last year and a half and it is a helluva lot of fun to watch.

Jake0890 wrote:Don’t look now, but we’re .5 games out of 2nd place...

oh, I looked. I was looking at scores on my phone off and on during the game. we're now .5 out of 2nd but also .5 out of 5th. Bucks, Sixers, Celts, and Pacers all within a game.

I've learned to look at how many home games a team has played compared to the number of road games. we're even. Bucks and Sixers have road games to play and could slide. Celts have home games coming so should climb. Toronto has an incredible road record but has more coming up so you'd wish to see them come back to the pack.

Thad owns Giannis. The Pacers packed the paint and dared the Bucks to hit with a runner closing out. Brogdon and Ilyasova were flat. Myles had it going in the first, and kept them honest all game. he was making amazing passes out of the PnR that he hadn't made in past seasons. He isn't hesitating.

Major Cold wrote:Thad owns Giannis. The Pacers packed the paint and dared the Bucks to hit with a runner closing out. Brogdon and Ilyasova were flat. Myles had it going in the first, and kept them honest all game. he was making amazing passes out of the PnR that he hadn't made in past seasons. He isn't hesitating.

This is the key for him, I think. He’s much more in that mindset of “shoot or pass, but make that decision quick”. Which is a huge growth for him and probably key to his future offense.

boomershadow wrote:Myles with four 3 pointers?

And 3 blocks. That's where he's gonna earn his money. If he gets stronger and becomes a better rebounder too... Look out baby.

This was a big win for the Pacers. The Defense really disrupted GA. 3 double doubles on our side.

At times you could see the frustration on GA's face, made it extra fun.

Man you guys should wander over to the Bucks board and loot at their post game thread! The crying game is in full swing.

basketballwacko2 wrote:Man you guys should wander over to the Bucks board and loot at their post game thread! The crying game is in full swing.

Nah. We have our rough games too. Let’s neither be sore winners or sore losers.

I think its been two of the last three games we've faced the Bucks where Bogdanovich has completely outplayed Kris Middleton. Does there come a point where we just say he's better or at least just as good?

basketballwacko2 wrote:Man you guys should wander over to the Bucks board and loot at their post game thread! The crying game is in full swing.

I did after reading this, and it was quite entertaining

I think they did underestimate the Pacers a little. Some of them were calling Thad "Thad F***ing Young", as if Thad is some random scrub who had a good game out of nowhere. People who don't watch the Pacers don't realize that outside of Vic and Domas, Thad is probably the next most valuable player on the team - his numbers don't jump out at you, but he does all the little things that results in extra possessions, like cleaning up broken plays and hustling at both sides of the court. In this particular game, there was one sequence where he out rebounded 3 Bucks for the offensive rebound and got a foul called on of the Bucks, and he did it by simply staying with it and hustling, I think he jumped at least 2 or 3 times that time

8305 wrote:I think its been two of the last three games we've faced the Bucks where Bogdanovich has completely outplayed Kris Middleton. Does there come a point where we just say he's better or at least just as good?

Unlike some, I've never personally felt that Middleton is a great player. To me he's the kind of average-ish player who's going to have a good game every now and then. I remember very clearly, during their home opener, he nonchalantly chucked a quick 3pt despite plenty of time on the shot clock and someone (maybe Bogie) having a hand in his face. That's just not something a good player does

Scoot McGroot wrote:This is the key for him, I think. He’s much more in that mindset of “shoot or pass, but make that decision quick”. Which is a huge growth for him and probably key to his future offense.

I was pleasantly surprised to see Myles being a lot more assertive as well. Whereas in the past I would mentally shout at my screen for him to shoot it, I see that he's becoming more decisive in shooting the ball now, which is great. There's still a long way to go though, he's still generally pretty timid and hesitates too much on offense - I remember at least one sequence in this game, probably in the second half, where he caught the ball at the 3pt line and was open, and instead of shooting it, he reverted back to his old habit of looking around wondering what to do, giving the defense enough time to react resulting in him having to pass the ball