On Saturday night, the Indiana Pacers dropped the fourth and final game of their regular-season series against the Milwaukee Bucks, falling 126-119. Tyrese Haliburton was fantastic, scoring 25 points, dishing 15 assists, and racking up five steals without a single turnover, but it wasn't enough to keep up with the Bucks.
Milwaukee was led by 34 points from Giannis Antetokounmpo and 25 from Damian Lillard. As a whole, the Bucks shot an excellent 40.5 percent from 3-point range and assisted on 28 of their 43 made field goals, and were able to chop up the Pacers' defense.
As the fourth and fifth seeds in the Eastern Conference, it's all but a given that the Bucks and Pacers will meet in the first round of the playoffs, and could very well have a hard-fought series, with the winner being a real threat to the top teams moving forward.
However, for the Pacers to stand a chance against Milwaukee or really anyone in the league, they need to tighten up their defense.
"We didn't do a great job, really, on anybody defensively," admitted Rick Carlisle after the game. "Defensively, we were just very mediocre in the first half. We hung in because we kept fighting back, and we had some good offensive stretches, but defensively, we were pretty good in the second and fourth quarters, and we struggled in the first and third."
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This season, Indiana is perfectly mediocre, with the 15th defensive rating in the NBA. Over the last ten games, they are still 15th in the league, so at least there's been some consistency. Against the Bucks, their defensive rating is nearly ten points higher than their season average, so clearly Giannis and company have their number.
The Pacers won't see the Bucks again until the postseason, but if they want to finish strong and go on a run again, they will need to improve, certainly on the defensive side of the ball.
Check out the All Pacers homepage for more news, analysis, and must-read articles.
Related: Key Stat Reveals Pacers Have Best Playoff Chances
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This story was originally published March 16, 2025 at 11:26 AM.
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