Tyrese Haliburton connected on a three-point play with 1.6 seconds left in overtime to lift the Indiana Pacers to a 2-1 series lead against the Milwaukee Bucks in the first of three NBA playoff games Friday night :
Tyrese Haliburton’s overtime game winner 🔥 pic.twitter.com/5VF0IroY54
– Indiana Pacers (@Pacers) April 27, 2024
Aaron Nesmith hit a corner 3 with 14.4 seconds left in overtime to give the Pacers a three-point lead. Khris Middleton tied it with a 3 before Haliburton’s game-winner.
Pacers 121, Bucks 118 (OT)
Series: Indiana leads 2-1
Game 4: 7 p.m. ET Sunday, Indiana
Can the Pacers keep the ball moving?
It’s the core of the Pacers’ philosophy and the epicenter of basketball, but the ball has to move.
Because of the experience of Doc Rivers and Rick Carlisle and their never-ending chess match, playoff basketball can get extremely ugly at times, as decent-sized chunks of this series have shown. The Pacers, who typically play in a high-octane environment, were forced to play at a slower pace, thanks in part to Rivers’ defensive schemes. But when Indiana took over and found effective areas, the ball moved down the court, giving way for some great shots.
During the regular season, the Pacers were the best in the league at moving the ball, averaging 308.3 assists per game, in addition to leading the NBA in assists per game (30.8). They were also among the top five teams in secondary and potential assists, further underscoring their commitment to unselfish basketball.
In the second game, Indiana recorded 38 assists on 50 field goals. The Bucks seemingly took their defensive aggressiveness up a notch on Friday, forcing the Pacers to generate consistent offense outside of Pascal Siakam – using a combination of doubles, pressure and zone. By halftime, Indiana had 22 assists, with Haliburton having 10.
The second half (and overtime in particular) turned into a real fight, but the Pacers did not succumb to the Bucks’ persistence. Indiana had its share of bad basketball, settling for ineffective shots, but the ball never stopped moving. The Pacers finished with 32 assists, half of which came from Tyrese Haliburton. In the end, Indiana was the last team to engage in a thrilling end-to-end duel. -Kelly Iko
Are the Bucks running out of gas?
After being listed as questionable before the game, Middleton scored 42 points on 29 shots. He played 41 minutes in a dogged effort despite his injury, but ultimately it wasn’t enough, and now it’s fair to wonder what the Bucks have left in the tank heading into Game 4.
Without Giannis Antetokounmpo, this veteran team has little to give, and losing a heartbreaking 53 minutes could put them in a tough spot moving forward.
The Pacers took a 17-point lead after one quarter, and the Bucks got back into the game. But at the end of the day, they just didn’t have enough size and strength to close out defensive possessions. Steadily throughout the fourth quarter and overtime, the Pacers outscored the Bucks and kept possessions alive, which only tired the Bucks more. The Pacers scored 32 points off 19 offensive rebounds, and it ended up being a huge difference.
Without Antetokounmpo, the Bucks find themselves in deficit in many categories, and those deficits all ended up working against them on Friday. Winning in Game 4 will be a gargantuan task, but it may be the only way the Bucks survive this series against the young upstart Pacers. —Eric Nehm
This story will be updated.
(Photo by Tyrese Haliburton: Trevor Ruszkowski / USA Today)