Indianapolis (AP) Pascal Siakam and Tyrese Haliburton played the perfect pair for the Indiana Pacers on Tuesday. Again.
Now they are two victories from the escape of the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round of the playoffs. Again.
Siakam raised 24 points, 11 rebounds and a 3-point crucial pointer to start the decisive final race for the Indiana, while Haliburton added 21 points and 12 assists to lead the Indiana pacers after the Milwaukee Bucks 123-115 for a 2-0 lead.
“It was a constant presence for us all year round, so happy that he is part of our team,” said Haliburton, referring to Siakam. “I think he could be the most underestimated player in the NBA to be honest. I think what he does in the night is incredible. So coherent, so stable. “
Bucks learn the hard way.
Indiana has won five of the last six playoffs between the teams, leading this thread. And against a team that won three of the four confrontations in the regular season of this season, the Pacers have still not been dragging since the first minutes of the first quarter of match 1.
They will meet for the 18th time in the last two seasons on Friday, when match 3 will be played in Milwaukee.
“It’s a bit difficult to play from behind,” said Gianis Antetokounmpo, twice the league MVP, Antetokounmpo after finishing with 34 points, 18 rebounds and seven assists. “We must be more urgent. The two games, the two halves, they were really able to set the tone, get this feeling. Need to play with more emergency at the start of the match, start of half.”
The goalkeeper of Bucks Damain Lillard collected 14 points in his first game of deep venous thrombosis in his right calf. He had 4 out of 13 on the field in 37 minutes, playing for the first time since March 18 – and for the first time in playoffs with Antetokounmpo, who missed the six games of the playoffs last season with a calf injury.
Bobby Portis Jr. added 28 points, including six 3 and 12 rebounds for Milwaukee.
The game had a little of everything.
There was a fight in front of the Pacers bench which led to double technical faults in the first half, words between several players in the last minutes which attracted more technical faults, the players hitting the ground several times, a stable counter of 10 seconds on the free throws of Antetokounmpo, a small defense of zone, a full pressure and, for example, many points.
And a crowd featuring the star of the WNBA Caitlin Clark and his teammates from the Indiana fever, the Super Bowl winner, Reggie Wayne, 2022, Indianapolis 500 champion, Marcus Ericsson and the former Pacers star, Lance Stephenson, all obtained a headquarters headquarters to one of the most entertaining eliminatory matches.
On the field, the Pacers were in total control after having built an advance of 31-16 to only 7 1/2 minutes after the match until the Bucks took place on a race of 13-0 at the end of 115-103 with 2:31 on the left.
It was then that Siakam struck the 3 to stimulate the 8-2 race to close it.
—
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/nba
Copyright 2025 Stats LLC and Associated Press. Any use or commercial distribution without the express written consent of Statts LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited.
