“When you win Game 1 in a series particularly as the home team, Game 2 is just always exponentially tougher.”
INDIANAPOLIS — Pacers coach Rick Carlisle was asked what the central theme of his message is to his players as they prepare for Game 2 in a playoff series in which they have a 1-0 lead for the first time as a group.
“Expect hard,” Carlisle said after practice Monday. “Hard things are hard. Winning the second game of a playoff series after you’ve won the first game is hard. We have to expect hard, and we have to embrace hard.”
Over the course of last season’s Eastern Conference finals run, the Pacers experienced most of what there is to experience in postseason basketball, but there were still a few frontiers they hadn’t set foot on. One was holding homecourt advantage in a series, which they reached by earning the East’s No. 4 seed after entering last year at No. 6. Another was holding a 1-0 lead in a series after they went 0-3 in Game 1s last season and dealing with a team looking to respond.
That’s where they stand now after Saturday’s 117-98 win over the No. 5 seed Bucks at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Game 1 of the first round series with Game 2 coming at 7 p.m., Tuesday.
They took control of Saturday’s game in the second quarter and never let go, but they know just how dangerous a team can be after playing poorly and losing badly in Game 1 of a series because last year they followed a 109-94 loss to the Bucks in Game 1 in Milwaukee with a 125-108 win in Game 2.
“Game 1 last year we got smacked pretty bad,” Pacers point guard Tyrese Haliburton said. “Then we responded well in Game 2. We expect them to throw a big punch in Game 2. We gotta be prepared for it, understanding that winning Game 1 is doing nothing but doing your job.”
The Pacers last won Game 1 of a series in 2018 in the first round against LeBron James’ Cavaliers, but lost Game 2 and eventually lost the series in seven games. They won Game 1 on the road in the first round against the Raptors in 2016, but lost Game 2 and and eventually lost that series, also in seven games. They won Game 1 at home against James’ Heat in 2014’s Eastern Conference finals and lost Game 2 and eventually lost that series.
The last time the Pacers won the first two games of a series was the first round of the 2013 playoffs when they took a 2-0 lead on the Hawks in the first round at home, lost the next two games on the road but won Games 5 and 6 to advance before eventually losing to the Heat in the Eastern Conference finals.
Carlisle has been around around long enough to be on both sides of preparations from Game 2s and has made it clear to his players there’s only so much they can take from their Game 1 performance.
“When you win Game 1 in a series particularly as the home team, Game 2 is just always exponentially tougher,” Carlisle said. “There’s a renewed level of force that they (the opponent) bring. There’s all kinds of possibilities with lineup things, all that kind of stuff. We have to be ready for anything, not be surprised by anything.”
Pacers look to go up 2-0 over Bucks: ‘Pressure is a privilege’
Indiana Pacers center Myles Turner discusses the pressure of game two versus the Milwaukee Bucks.
The Pacers are particularly wary of complacency because the Bucks had such a poor offensive showing in Game 1 and the Pacers are aware that they could only take so much credit defensively. They made two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo — who was named one of three finalists for this year’s MVP award over the weekend — work for his 36 points and made it hard for him to pick them apart as a passer as he managed only one assist after averaging 6.5 for the season and cracking double-figure assists in five of his last six regular-season games.
The Bucks made just 9-of-37 3-pointers including just 2-of-16 in the first half. The Bucks’ four other starters outside of Antetokounmpo were particularly ineffective. Wings Kyle Kuzma and Taurean Prince went scoreless on a combined 0-of-6 shooting. Center Brook Lopez and point guard Ryan Rollins combined for 14 points on 5-of-14 shooting. Including Antetokounmpo, the Bucks’ starting five was 1-of-11 from 3.
The Pacers were proud of their double-teams on Antetokounmpo, their rotations and their ability to take away Antetokounmpo’s first pass, but acknowledged they allowed wide open 3s the Bucks just missed.
“There were many instances of that,” Haliburton said. “The odds of them shooting that poorly from 3 probably aren’t that high as the series goes on.”
The odds will go down even further with the return of all-time great 3-point shooter Damian Lillard, which is now more of a matter of when than if. The seven-time All-NBA pick and nine-time All-Star point guard would was diagnosed with deep vein thrombosis in his right calf in March. However last week the Bucks revealed tests showed Lillard’s leg was free of blood clots and he is no longer on blood thinners. He is listed as questionable for Tuesday’s game on the NBA’s official injury report.
Lillard missed too many games this season to be eligible for postseason awards, but he averaged 24.9 points and 7.1 assists per game this season. He played just 58 games, but still finished 21st in the NBA in total 3-pointers with 197. He ranks fourth in NBA history in career regular season 3-pointers with 2,804 behind only Stephen Curry, James Harden and Ray Allen.
Pacers’ Andrew Nembhard on why he was successful in Game 1 vs. Bucks
Indiana Pacers guard Andrew Nembhard discusses the team’s matchup with the Milwaukee Bucks.
The Bucks didn’t have Antetokounmpo for any of the six games in last year’s first round and Lillard also missed two of the six. Whenever Lillard returns, that will be the first time the Pacers have to deal with both players in a playoff game.
“When there’s a potential to add a guy like Lillard to the mix, that’s extreme,” Carlisle said. “You’re putting a first ballot Hall-of-Famer into the lineup.”
That being said, the Pacers have seen enough of Lillard over the past two seasons to have a sense of what they’re in for. Andrew Nembhard, the Pacers’ top point-of-attack defender will likely draw the assignment of guarding him and he’s had some success in the past. In last year’s playoffs, Lillard averaged 31.3 points in the four games he appeared in. However, he shot a modest 42% from the floor and finished with 5.0 assists per game, a manageable number for the Pacers.
“I always embrace those matchups,” Nembhard said. “I love competing against those good players.”
And the Pacers know they still have advantages they can lean on even against a motivated Bucks team. They view their strengths as their depth and relentless pressure and pace. As badly as the Bucks wanted to stop them from running on Saturday, the Pacers still managed to score 22 fast-break points to the Bucks’ five and 13 points off turnovers to the Bucks’ three.
“What I’ve learned in the last two years preparing for the playoffs is about the wear-down effect,” Haliburton said. “I think we’ve done a great job of showing our pressure up and down the floor, sending two to Giannis and many different things. That wear-down effect over the course of seven games is the most important thing. Just try to keep flying around and making the extra efforts. I feel like the basketball gods reward you the harder you play.”
The Pacers still have to be prepared for the Bucks to make strategic adjustments regardless of Lillard’s presence and they have to be able to adjust on the fly. The Bucks could change lineups after getting so little from the starters in Game 1 or they could do more to get Antetokounmpo room to work.
But it’s just as important for the Pacers to stick to what they do well and maintain it.
“The hope is that our base concepts cover the majority of things,” Carlisle said. “… We can’t over-analyze things. We just can’t do it. Today was really a lot about trying to maintain a high level of edge, compete level and that kind of stuff.”
