After the Milwaukee Bucks fell into a 2-0 hole during their first-round Eastern Conference playoff series against the Indiana Pacers, Doc Rivers exuded confidence in his team with a reminder it has not played at home yet.
“I look at it as a long series (and) we haven’t played a home game,” the Bucks head coach said. “We have to go home and take care of business, then we can talk. I’m very confident about this series. Very.”
Rivers will get those home games as the series shifts to Milwaukee. The Bucks host the Pacers for Game 3 on Friday before Game 4 on Sunday night.
Indiana largely controlled Game 2 on Tuesday, but Milwaukee would not go away and made it a game late before the Pacers finished off a 123-115 victory. The Bucks were down as much as 16 but got it within 115-113 with 2:33 to go.
When the Bucks took one step forward, they took two steps back on the defensive end.
“When we got to get a stop, we did not get a stop. Those are the plays to me that are really breaking us,” Rivers said. “It was our inability to contain the ball off the dribble. They believe they have guys who can beat ours off the dribble.”
Pascal Siakam, who hit a key 3-pointer after Milwaukee cut the Indiana advantage to two, led the Pacers with 24 points and 11 rebounds. Tyrese Haliburton added 21 points with 12 assists.
“I credit our guys a lot. (The Bucks) threw a hellacious punch,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. “Pascal hit as big of a shot as you’re gonna see in the playoffs on the right wing. The building was as loud as I’ve ever heard it.”
Giannis Antetokounmpo led Milwaukee with 34 points, 18 rebounds and seven assists. Bobby Portis added 28 points and 12 boards off the bench while Damian Lillard, playing for the first time in 15 games due to a blood clot in his right calf, recorded 14 points and seven assists in 37 minutes.
“I kept him (Dame) in. He was exhausted, but I thought, let him blow it out,” Rivers said. “We got two days for him to recover and that’s why I kept him in.”
Milwaukee’s play was promising after the team shot 50.6 percent from the floor and 40.0 percent from 3-point range. The Bucks will need more from their impact bench shooters in Gary Trent Jr. and AJ Green at home as they combined in Game 2 to shoot 1-for-4 from deep.
With Lillard back, the focus has moved off the injury report. Rookie Tyler Smith, not a regular rotation player for Milwaukee, was listed as questionable for Game 3 with a left ankle sprain. Indiana’s injury report is empty outside of Isaiah Jackson, who tore his Achilles in November.
The Bucks and Pacers teams have now played six total matchups this season and are an even 3-3 after Milwaukee won the regular season series 3-1. Dating back to their first-round series a year ago, Indiana has won six of the last eight playoff matchups, including three in a row.
–Field Level Media
