Round 1: Milwaukee Bucks vs Indiana Pacers

[Wizop]

Haven't yet seen the replay,... Did Myles really play as well as most of the commentaries are saying?

I stayed up so YES

[JMaster5K]

Haven't yet seen the replay,... Did Myles really play as well as most of the commentaries are saying?

I stayed up so YES

Finally took a look,... WOW! Myles was outstanding! we also got some real, quality minutes from both Shep & Jarace. JW even got a shut-down, defensive stop on Giannis! of course, he gave it up & they hit the catch & shoot 3,... but still,.... looked like a LOT of effort from everyone!

[boomershadow]

I feel bad for Lillard of course, first and foremost, but I am also kinda annoyed the narrative is going to be again that the Pacers only beat injured teams.

[Wizop]

Assuming his injury is similar to iJax's and he'll have to rehab for a whole year, I can see him retiring,

[Scoot McGroot]

Assuming his injury is similar to iJax's and he'll have to rehab for a whole year, I can see him retiring,

He’s got $112m gtd to him going forward over 2 more years. I picture him rehabbing on Milwaukee’s dime for next year, and then coming back the year after to prove to himself whether or not he can still do it. I think he’ll be too competitive to not try again. And if he does well, maybe he then decides to go mercenary for the end of his career and try for a ring, or bounce back to Portland to play out a last year and retire.

I don’t see him retiring while injured when he could get $54m to rehab in top notch facilities next year.

[Wizop]

Caitlin and Sampson discuss the game without being consumed by "the injury."

Watch on YouTube

[JMaster5K]

I feel bad for Lillard of course, first and foremost, but I am also kinda annoyed the narrative is going to be again that the Pacers only beat injured teams.

The press for this series has been pretty lopsided anyway. I keep reading about, ‘how to fix the Bucks’, ‘how Milwaukee lost’, ‘how the Bucks should have won’,… the Bucks are a good team, no disrespect to them.

However, the media that spend 4 to 5 x the number of words covering a team that is down 3-1, with Nothing about the Pacers & what they are doing, at least to me, is pretty damning.

[Pacers Forever]

I feel bad for Lillard of course, first and foremost, but I am also kinda annoyed the narrative is going to be again that the Pacers only beat injured teams.

The press for this series has been pretty lopsided anyway. I keep reading about, ‘how to fix the Bucks’, ‘how Milwaukee lost’, ‘how the Bucks should have won’,… the Bucks are a good team, no disrespect to them.

However, the media that spend 4 to 5 x the number of words covering a team that is down 3-1, with Nothing about the Pacers & what they are doing, at least to me, is pretty damning.

I’m going to throw this out and hopefully it sticks The Cavs have been crushing the Heat to advance. If the Pacers defeat the Bucks to advance the media will get another shock when the Pacers give the Cavs more than anyone expects except for Pacer fans, the players and organization.

The Pacers know how to play against the Cavs and have enough depth to take them to the edge of the cliff and push them off. The Cavaliers are deep with quality shooters and role players as well. Hopefully the Pacers survive that challenge which I see as a toss up. Of course as we all know the national media will still not go all in on writing about the Pacer’s success story.

[JMaster5K]

I feel bad for Lillard of course, first and foremost, but I am also kinda annoyed the narrative is going to be again that the Pacers only beat injured teams.

The press for this series has been pretty lopsided anyway. I keep reading about, ‘how to fix the Bucks’, ‘how Milwaukee lost’, ‘how the Bucks should have won’,… the Bucks are a good team, no disrespect to them.

However, the media that spend 4 to 5 x the number of words covering a team that is down 3-1, with Nothing about the Pacers & what they are doing, at least to me, is pretty damning.

I’m going to throw this out and hopefully it sticks The Cavs have been crushing the Heat to advance. If the Pacers defeat the Bucks to advance the media will get another shock when the Pacers give the Cavs more than anyone expects except for Pacer fans, the players and organization.

The Pacers know how to play against the Cavs and have enough depth to take them to the edge of the cliff and push them off. The Cavaliers are deep with quality shooters and role players as well. Hopefully the Pacers survive that challenge which I see as a toss up. Of course as we all know the national media will still not go all in on writing about the Pacer’s success story.

Last year,... I can accept the narrative that we faced injured teams,.... we did. Did the fact that those teams were injured change the outcome of any of the games or the series? Maybe? maybe not. (THAT would have been a much more interesting analysis than the apologetics brandished by the national media!) But the national media pushed & promoted the idea that the Pacers couldn't have won those games, wouldn't have even been in those games, if things had been different. Which we know now, with hindsight is an almost patently false assumption.

This year, they should have learned from last year & covered the Pacers basketball & not trying to speak into existence their own biased agendas based on what promotes their own importance.

It is really sad,... when the fans in an emerging rivalry have more respect for each other teams, better analysis, and more thoughtful dialog than anyone in the national media can be bothered to even consider,..... sorry,... venting.

Regardless of what national media says or does,... or even the final outcome,... The Cavs - Pacers matchup, if it happens, is going to be fun with a mind-numbing amount of good basketball.

[Pacers Forever]

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After the last game I was looking at the box score wondering why Doc Rivers doesn’t start Portis, Trent Jr., and Porter Jr. along with Giannis and Lillard. Of course I know a possible reason or answer is that it leaves nothing but Green, Prince, and Lopez on his second unit.

So I was thinking maybe he should just go with the top scorers playing them almost all game like the Knicks coach and he’s starting out that way tonight. About all he’s got left to try.

Hopefully the Pacers stronger second unit destroys the Bucks subs if Rivers does try an all sub lineup to rest his starters. Most likely he staggers his starters rest keeping scorers on the court at all times. Regardless the Pacers will prevail tonight.

[Wizop]

Bucks defending seriously for the first time

[boomershadow]

I've seen enough Mathurin. I'm high on his future, but the bench unit has a higher ceiling but lower floor with him out there.

[Wizop]

I've seen enough Mathurin. I'm high on his future, but the bench unit has a higher ceiling but lower floor with him out there.

I've said it before - I'm willing to trade him.

[Scoot McGroot]

Vibes and emotions are all Pacers right now as Pacers have played +16 since that terrible 1st quarter (-17).

[Scoot McGroot]

Also, the refs are REALLY letting them play tonight.

[Wizop]

We're missing easy shots and free throws

[Scoot McGroot]

That whole 2nd half and OT is just insane.

Giannis doing the right thing giving props at the end, and looks like he took offense to something Mathurin said. Lloyd Pierce ran Benn off the court after everyone was calmed down. Looked like Porter Jr tried to get physical (no surprise, huh)?

[Wizop]

Mathurin trying to get suspended

[GermanFan120]

Unbelievable comeback and Bucks panicked like hell starting with their coach.

Does anyone know what happened in the crowd that got Giannis so mad after the game?

Did Hali do anything stupid?

[Wizop]

Unbelievable comeback and Bucks panicked like hell starting with their coach.

Does anyone know what happened in the crowd that got Giannis so mad after the game?

Did Hali do anything stupid?

There's a BlueSky post saying Giannis got in Ty's father's face.