The Milwaukee Bucks will be facing off against the Indiana Pacers in a spicy first-round series in the 2024 NBA playoffs. The Pacers have won four of the five meetings between these teams this season and Bucks head coach Doc Rivers spoke about the matchup.
"Indiana has had our number all year, right? So, perfect opponent," Rivers said. "Listen, we gotta play somebody and they're tough. They've played great against us. They probably have great confidence against us. We'll have great focus because we're going to have to."
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I am not quite sure I would say the Pacers are the perfect opponent. Sure, it's a chance for the Bucks to right the wrongs from the regular season, but this is just a bad stylistic matchup. The Pacers rank second in the NBA in pace this season at 102.16 and the Bucks' defense struggled to contain them.
The Pacers averaged a whopping 128.8 points per game in those five meetings and recorded 142 points in the last one, which was the most points the Bucks had allowed in a game in this campaign. A notable difference from those five games to this series, however, would be that Rivers is the head coach.
Adrian Griffin was the man at the helm for all five of those games, and it'll be interesting to see what game plan Rivers comes up with. If he can find a way to slow down that Pacers offense, that would take some of the pressure off him.
Rivers' stint so far as Bucks head coach has been a bit of a disaster. The team had a 30-13 record when Griffin was fired and following a 113-83 loss to the Orlando Magic on Sunday, they are now 19-20 under Rivers. Sure, injuries have played a part in their struggles, but Rivers hasn't exactly done a terrific job of coaching this group.
Speaking of injuries, Giannis Antetokounmpo's status for the start of this series remains unclear. The 29-year-old suffered a left calf injury during the game against the Boston Celtics last week, and the Bucks hope he can return in time for Game 1.
Antetokounmpo averaged an incredible 42.2 points per game against the Pacers this season, and his play was one of the few positives that came out of those meetings. Giannis put up a Bucks franchise record 64 points in their only win and infamously was fuming when he believed the Pacers took the game ball.
For these two to face off in the playoffs after that incident took place is quite something. It adds that spice to the series and I expect some heated moments.
Damian Lillard Feels Good About The Bucks-Pacers Series
While Antetokounmpo could miss Game 1, there are no concerns regarding his co-star Damian Lillard's availability. Lillard was asked about the matchup following the loss to the Magic, and he is confident heading into the series.
"I feel good about it," Lillard said. "I think the one thing about the playoffs, especially this season, everybody can beat everybody. That's really how I feel about it. Happy that we got home court and it's a team that we familiar with. We know that they like to play fast. They score a lot of points. There's only a few teams that score over 120, we one of 'em and they one of 'em. We just gotta know what their strengths are, which we know well, and we gotta try and take as many of those things away and make it a tougher game for them."
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Lillard's better performance would help the Bucks beat the Pacers. He averaged just 20.3 points on 32.4% from the field in the four games he played against them. If Lillard doesn't step up, the Bucks will be out in the first round once again.
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