Indiana Pacers and Bucks is a band in the eastern conference and looking for another “moment” when they meet in Milwaukee on Saturday night.
It will be the fourth and last-ordinary seasonal meeting between the two teams each 37-28. The two teams met on Tuesday with Pacers who won at an incredible four-point game by All-Star Guard Tyrese Haliburton with 3.4 seconds left.
After that shot, Haliburton was asked about the parallel with Late-Game Heroics by pacers legend Reggie Miller.
“There are definitely many reggies in this building,” Haliburton said. “And you know, I’m just trying to create some of my own. A big part of being a representative of this organization is that I follow in the footsteps of many greats. And, you know, [I’m] Trying to create my own way behind it … just trying to create my own moments so that in the same way that children and fans looked up to him when he was here, they can look at me in the same way. “
Haliburton had 14 points in Pacers 112-100 victory in Philadelphia Friday night. The card handy Sixers led by as many as 16 points before Indiana grew during the second half.
Pascal Siakam, who was hesitant before the game with a bad elbow, had 27 points in the victory.
“I can come up with many reasons why we had a slow start. Nobody wants to hear it,” said Pacers coach Rick Carlisle. “We have to compete better directly from the bat to start the game. The other half was how we needed to play.”
Milwaukee finished a three-game losing line Thursday night over the LeBron-less Lakers. Giannis Antetokounmpo played only 30 minutes in the victory and had 24 points. He remains the NBA’s other leading goal scorer behind Shai Gilgeous-Alexander at 30.5 points per game.
“We are a veteran team,” said Damian Lillard, who had 22 against the Lakers. “You have to be able to move on from the moments where it is like” man, if we should have done it or we would have done so, we will certainly win two of these three matches. “But I think we showed our maturity.
Brook Lopez has posted two large games in a row and got 23 in each. He is 17-20 from the field in his last two races.
“Brook has played really well,” said Bucks coach Doc Rivers. “We got him in a good place right now, he defends the basket as well as anyone in the league.”
Antetokounmpo, who committed the foul on Haliburton’s four-point games, has an average of 24.5 in his career against Indiana.
For Milwaukee, it has been a season of adversity. The team started 2-8 and is without Bobby Portis that has been canceled for using an illegal medicine until April 8.
“When we move the ball, it is difficult to protect us,” Rivers said. “We have so much shooting on the floor. We have fantastic cutters, when we do it consistently … We had 20-plus assists tonight. We will take it every night.”
Bucks is 8-4 since the All-Star break and 23-11 this season at the Fiserv Forum. Indiana is 4-6 in back-to-back games this season. Milwaukee leads the season 2-1.
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