With injuries limiting the Bucks, the Pacers feast by allowing the action to develop as they stake a 3-1 series lead.
INDIANAPOLIS – As the Milwaukee Bucks lost player after player, yet kept pestering the Indiana Pacers in Game 4 Sunday at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, they started to resemble Monty Python’s fabled Black Knight.
Alas, the “flesh wounds” inflicted by the Indiana Pacers eventually proved too great. Here are five takeaways from the 126-113 victory that put the Pacers up 3-1 in the best-of-seven series:
1. No Lillard, no Giannis, no chance?
It’s one thing to have to compete without two of your starters. It’s another to lose 40% of the East’s All-Star starting lineup at the worst possible time.
That was the Bucks’ predicament Sunday. Giannis Antetokounmpo was unavailable from the start of the series due to a strained left calf muscle. Then Damian Lillard tweaked an already achy right Achilles tendon late in regulation of Friday’s Game 3 overtime loss.
Add in Khris Middleton playing on a balky ankle and Bobby Portis’ ill-advised ejection in the first quarter of this one and the NBA’s familiar “next man up” battle cry was ringing rather hollow.
It’s debatable whether the Bucks had a legitimate shot to steal the game. It felt more like a moral victory and a testament to the 10 guys who played for coach Doc Rivers in the first half that his team was within three at intermission.
But Milwaukee’s last lead, 44-43, vanished in an 11-2 Pacers run in the second quarter. Indiana outscored the Bucks 31-21 in the third quarter and they never got closer than six – briefly – over the final 18 minutes.
A valiant effort, notably by Middleton and Brook Lopez, who dusted off some “Brooklyn Brook” with low-post opportunities. But Indiana played and looked like a team bound for the next round.
2. No denying the Pacers’ many weapons
For Milwaukee to win the game, it was imperative to muck things up, keep the score in the 80s or 90s, and hope to get hot from the arc. At the other end, of course, it meant making Indiana work hard for everything.
None of that happened. The teams combined for 131 points by halftime. The Bucks were ordinary from deep (36.4%). Meanwhile, the Pacers shot 22-for-43 on 3-pointers, a 51.2% clip almost as good as their 2-point rate (52.2%).
Center Myles Turner hit seven of his nine 3-point attempts, blocked three shots, scored 29 points and put Lopez on a virtual poster.
MYLES TURNER THROWS DOWN THE MASSIVE POSTER 🤯🤯🤯
Bucks-Pacers | Game 4 on TNT 🍿 pic.twitter.com/Iej1IJcnns
— NBA (@NBA) April 29, 2024
Guard Tyrese Haliburton hit three consecutive 3s to start the third quarter and force reality on the Bucks. And Obi Toppin off the bench tormented them by beating them downcourt repeatedly for quick 2s.
Indiana’s potent offense put on a showcase, even with only seven fast-break points. Whatever Milwaukee tried to take away, coach Rick Carlisle and the Pacers sprung loose with something else.
“We were just scrambling,” Rivers said.
3. From sixth man to invisible man
The bad manpower situation was made worse when Portis, just seven minutes into the game, got into a skirmish with Indiana guard Andrew Nembhard after a play. The two exchanged shoves, but Portis one-upped him with a slap to the head. That earned him two technical fouls to Nembhard’s one and, with that pair, an automatic ejection.
Portis was valuable enough for Milwaukee to finish third in Kia Sixth Man of the Year balloting. He has been starting in Antetokounmpo’s spot, making him even more essential. Then he exits early in perhaps his team’s most important game.
The veteran forward’s renowned fire burned himself and his team. Portis had riled up Indiana with some comments after Game 2, and here he went too far again.
“Emotion got the best of him,” Middleton said. “Pretty much he’s done a great job of playing close to that line without crossing over. Tonight, he just crossed at the worst time for us.”
4. Who aced the audition?
With two starters out and Portis’ night cut short, there were a lot of minutes freed up for other Bucks. Malik Beasley was back in the starting lineup and scored 20 points.
Of the others, young guys Andre Jackson Jr. and A.J. Green got praise from Rivers and teammates. Jae Crowder and Danilo Gallinari combined for eight points with little impact.
5. Game 5 as opportunity, pressure
Do the Bucks have a better option than trying to muck their way back into the series?
Indiana is one victory away from reaching the East semifinals for the first time since 2014. The Pacers had five consecutive first-round exits from 2016-20, and finished 11th in the East last season.
For the Bucks, going home hurt and underwater in the series was not part of the blueprint. Adding Lillard right before training camp sparked a giddy start to the season. But issues rumbled beneath the surface of the team’s 30-13 start, enough to get coach Adrian Griffin fired, and Milwaukee has been desperate to find itself throughout.
Rivers said the team won’t risk running out Antetokounmpo or Lillard if they’re not healthy.
“We’re not going to put them in harm’s way. That’s No. 1,” Rivers said. “And we’re going to play the guys who are ready to play.”
Frankly, a flurry of injuries at the end might be the Bucks’ best shot at saving face now. Anything short of the conference finals was going to be a disappointment.
That’s seven victories away when winning one is a struggle.
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Steve Aschburner has written about the NBA since 1980. You can e-mail him here, find his archive here and follow him on X.
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