Bucks bring their own high-octane offense to Las Vegas to take on the top-scoring Pacers
LAS VEGAS – The grey steel infrastructure of the mid-November Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix is still sprinkled around the Strip, with crews taking down grandstands, suites and temporary overpasses. But in front of T-Mobile Arena, people were hard at work building up broadcast sets and fan experience areas for the start of the In-Season Tournament final four beginning Thursday afternoon.
The arena, home of the NHL’s Golden Knights, has been dressed up with massive banners of the Milwaukee Bucks, Indiana Pacers, New Orleans Pelicans and Los Angeles Lakers – along with slick In-Season Tournament signage that created an NBA Finals aesthetic.
The city, and the NBA, have pulled out all the stops.
"There's been a lot of excitement before coming to Vegas – we saw it (Tuesday) night – there was a lot of electricity in the building," Bucks head coach Adrian Griffin said of the Bucks' "knockout" win over New York. "I expect the same tomorrow. The players are excited about being here. They know what's at stake. We're treating like a playoff game, which it is. We're treating it as its June, that we're fighting for something, that we're building for something. I think this is going to help us later down the road."
Bucks, Pacers who haven't won a title see NBA In-Season Tournament as opportunity
Now, it’s up to the four teams to put on a show and crown a champion.
“We’re not done,” Bucks guard Malik Beasley said before the team headed west. “We’re going to Vegas. We’re proud, we’re not mad at that. But we’re not done. We know we got two more to win. I want to win two championships. We have a lot more to go.”
Beasley is one of nine players on Milwaukee’s roster to have not won an NBA title and seven who have not advanced to an NBA Finals. Point guard Cameron Payne and injured forward Jae Crowder were on the Phoenix team that lost to the Bucks in the 2021 finals, and the Bucks have six players left from that title-winning team.
Bucks rookie Andre Jackson Jr. won an NCAA championship last year at the University of Connecticut.
Oshkosh native and Pacers all-star point guard Tyrese Haliburton smiled and said, “I think at this point in my career – because I haven’t done anything yet – I’ll take a banner. But I’m sure LeBron (James) would not answer it the same way.”
The Eastern Conference semifinal between Indiana (11-8) and Milwaukee (15-6) features the No. 1 and No. 3 scoring offense in the league, with Haliburton directing the Pacers’ 128.4 points per game attack and Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard engineering the Bucks offense to the tune of 122.3 points per game.
Indiana Pacers beat Milwaukee Bucks in first 2023-24 meeting Nov. 9
In the team’s previous meeting Nov. 9, the Pacers overcame a 10-point fourth quarter deficit to pull out a 126-124 win. Antetokounmpo scored 54 points but ran out of gas at the end of the game – which was the second night of a back-to-back – and didn’t feature Lillard at all or Khris Middleton in the final minutes.
“They’re better,” Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle said. “They’re better.
"Lillard being out was a break that we caught that particular night. On the one hand he wasn’t out there on the other hand, Giannis touched the ball 65 times in the game. I don’t know. Where’s the bargain there? Dame is healthy. Giannis is Giannis. Khris Middleton is another great player and an all-star. If you look at his minutes trend, he’s playing a few more minutes than he was earlier in the season and he’s finishing games now.
"The challenges are many. We’ll have to be ready. We’re playing the role of disruptor here against a lot of these great players. We have to be really good at trying to implement our game as opposed to allowing them to play theirs.”
But the Pacers can fill it up, too.
They scored 157 points against Atlanta on Nov. 21, making the Bucks’ 146-point effort against New York on Tuesday look somewhat pedestrian. Indiana has also scored at least 130 points on nine occasions. Milwaukee has done it seven times.
“We’re going to have to be sharp,” Lillard said of facing Indiana. “We’re going to have to come in ready to defend those guys. They spread the floor. They get into the paint, they kick it out, lot of shooters, they’ve got a shooting big man. We’re going to have to be really sharp. It’s going to be a good game.”
Bucks developing chemistry on offense
The Bucks, though, have started to find something on the offensive end that wasn’t quite there in the earlier part of the season.
They have posted a 9-2 record since Nov. 15 and have averaged 128.1 points per game in that stretch. Not surprisingly, their Big Three have been impressive:
Lillard: 11 games, 27.7 points, 8.5 assists, 41.3% three-point shooting.
Antetokounmpo: 10 games, 30.9 points, 6.8 assists, 63.9% shooting.
Middleton: 9 games (23 minutes per), 12.4 points, 4.3 assists, 36.4% three-point shooting.
Their playmaking and growing comfort have been evident, as Brook Lopez is averaging 16.5 points and matched a career-high with 39 against Washington on Nov. 14. Beasley is averaging 15.5 points per game on 48% three-point shooting in that stretch.
“In training camp we just kept smiling because it was so easy with our spacing and you’re starting to see it now,” Beasley said. “A lot of guys are getting open shots. Even Dame is starting to figure out Giannis. Everybody’s starting to figure each other and what we like to do best.”
The scary part for opponents is that the Bucks still feel they haven’t quite clicked on that end.
“We obviously have the talent to have that firepower, that capability,” Lopez said following the 146-point effort against New York. “I definitely expected us to be great because of the kind of people we have on the team, not necessarily the talent. Obviously the talent’s there, but the make up of the guys is what’s going to make it really succeed.
“As good as we were (against New York) I don’t think we’re close to what we’re going to be at the end of the season.”
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Bucks', Pacers' offenses meet in NBA In-Season Tournament in Las Vegas
