What went wrong for the Pacers in Game 5 against the Bucks
MILWAUKEE (WISH) — The Indiana Pacers had a golden opportunity on Tuesday night.
They entered Game 5 against the Milwaukee Bucks in their first-round playoff series just one victory away from winning the franchise’s first playoff series in ten years.
Plus, the Bucks were without power forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (calf strain) and guard Damian Lillard (Achilles strain) in the game.
Despite missing those key players, the Bucks wound up winning 115-92, taking the lead in the second quarter for good.
“We just didn’t play with a consistent compete level we needed to,” Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle said. “I’ll take responsibility for that. I didn’t have these guys ready the way they needed to be ready to play this game.”
The Pacers led 31-23 after the first quarter, but a major run by the Bucks helped put them ahead in the second quarter, ultimately taking a five-point lead into the locker room at halftime.
“We did some good things early,” Carlisle said. “I don’t think we were playing with the kind of intensity we needed to, even when we had the lead.”
The Pacers finished the game 36-of-81 (44.4%) from the field, while the Bucks finished the game 44-of-84 (52.4%) from the field.
Milwaukee outscored Indiana 50-42 in the paint and outrebounded Indiana 44-36.
“I think their defense enticed us to settle to some of those open-looking shots, as opposed to those games where you have 30 assists, whatever it may be,” Pacers center Myles Turner said. “That’s when you’re playing Pacers basketball. I think tonight we kind of got away from ourselves.”
The 92 points scored were the lowest number of points scored by Indiana in a game since the regular season started.
“We just got stagnant,” Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton said. “Stopped making shots. Stopped playing our brand of basketball and ultimately kind of fell into the way they play, at a little bit of a slower pace than we do. And they controlled the pace tonight.”
Game 6 of the Pacers vs. Bucks Eastern Conference playoff series will take place on Thursday. Tip-off is set for 6:30 p.m. EDT inside Gainbridge Fieldhouse.