'A lot of testosterone out there': Chippy Pacers-Bucks series comes to Indianapolis
INDIANAPOLIS -- Pacers coach Rick Carlisle knows his team returns to Gainbridge Fieldhouse for its first home playoff game since 2019 riding a wave of positive momentum coming off a Game 2 win over the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs, but he wants to make sure they don't put too much faith in that momentum for Game 3.
It could be easy to get swept up in the idea of what will certainly be an electric crowd, even with a 5:30 p.m. start on Friday, but Carlisle noted such a crowd guarantees nothing.
"I told the guys today that there are endless cautionary tales about the road team winning Game 2 and coming home and not being able to respond the right way," Carlisle said. "We talked today about the things that we need to be able to continue to do. Being home doesn't guarantee anything except a friendly environment. Often times, what you see is that the road team has a higher level of focus in that environment. We can't wait to play this game with our fans in our building. But we have to understand that we're the ones that are really going to have to get them into the game."
The Pacers are also a team that has, in a manner of speaking, struggled with success and building momentum. They won six straight games from Dec. 26-Jan. 5, but that was the only winning streak longer than three games that they had all season and they have lost momentum with losses to teams that are in the lottery rather than the playoffs. So they have reason to caution themselves about getting too high heading into an environment unlike what many of them have ever seen before.
"You gotta bounce back after a win as well when you're riding that high, obviously," All-Star point guard Tyrese Haliburton said. "It's my first playoff win ever, a lot of us, our first playoff win ever. In that moment, it's easy to fall into the trap of feeling like you're now in control, but it's 1-1 and it can swing any way at this point. As a group, we have to understand it's one game. The vets in our organization, Rick, Pascal (Siakam) guys who have won at a high level have preached that. It's one game, same as Game 1 was just one game. Understanding we have to have that sustained playing hard and all that to have success."
The one advantage the Pacers had after their Game 1 loss in the series was they got to make adjustments to what went wrong strategically and emotionally. They came back with more physical defense, more creative offense, and an overall steadier approach after what was for several of them their first playoff game and for others their first playoff game in a starting or rotational role. They shook off first-game nerves and jitters which showed in their outside shooting, as they went from hitting 8 of 38 3-point attempts in Game 1 to 16 of 36 in Game 2.
But now the Bucks have a better sense of what the Pacers are capable of and they can adjust. And they have to make a determination about what they're going to do with two-time All-NBA forward Pascal Siakam, who scored 36 points in Game 1 and 37 in Game 2. He's been mostly operating against single coverage with the Bucks putting most of their attention on Haliburton to keep him from pushing the pace and the transition game, but they might have to figure out ways to throw multiple bodies at Siakam.
"It will be interesting to see," Haliburton said. "Obviously, he's scoring the ball at a high level right now. They're kind of living with him taking those long 2s, but that's what he does at such a high level. We're curious to see what they'll do. We have an idea of what they might do and we'll be prepared to adjust accordingly."
The Bucks will still likely be short-handed on Friday. Two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo is listed as doubtful again with a calf strain after missing the series' first two games and the last three games of the regular season, Veteran wing Khris Middleton is also listed as questionable with right ankle sprain. But the Pacers don't expect the series to get any less chippy.
This series has had a particular edge to it since December when Antetokounmpo was angered by a misunderstanding involving the game ball after scoring a career high 64 points in a win. There have already been five technical fouls and a flagrant foul in this series despite the fact that there are long-time friendships between the rosters. Middleton and the Pacers' Aaron Nesmith both played at the Porter Gaud School in Charleston, S.C. and though Middleton is significantly older, he served as a mentor to Nesmith. Haliburton played with Bobby Portis for Team USA on the FIBA World Cup team this summer and with Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard on All-Star teams.
"It's just hoops," Haliburton said. "Bobby is my guy. I loved playing with him with USA Basketball. I think he would say the same thing about me. It's competition when we play. We're all highly competitive people. We're all here for a reason. There's a lot of testosterone out there going on. A lot of guys want to win, all that stuff. I think at the end of the day, it's competition. In an era where all that's ever talked about is how we're all friends -- which, they were 20 years ago as well -- we're just competing at the same time. I think that's the fun within the game. Obviously, there's been some other things that have gone on with these games this year. I think that brings excitement to it. At the end of the day, it's just competitors competing."
And the Pacers expect the atmosphere at Gainbridge to just add to that. The last time they had a playoff game in Indianapolis in 2019 they came back from Boston down 2-0 en route to a 4-0 series sweep against the Celtics. The 2018 series with Cleveland was the last time they came home for Game 3 with the series tied 1-1 and that turned into a seven-game thriller before LeBron James' Cavaliers pulled it out.
"It's going to be a hell of an environment in there," Pacers center Myles Turner said after Game 2 on Tuesday. "I've waited a long time to give the home fans what they deserve. I'm just really, really excited for that environment."
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Pacers bring momentum home for Game 3 against Bucks
