2024 NBA Playoffs - East 1st Round: #3 Milwaukee Bucks vs. #6 Indiana Pacers (IND WINS 4-2)

[Boneman2]

Pacers will be fine. Game 6 in Indy, Home court ad

[Plossum]

The Pacers should close it out tomorrow if they play to their capabilities.

The big x-factor is obv Giannis. If by some miracle he is back, it might come down to how close to 100% he is.

[durden_tyler]

Despite the talks of comeback, Pacers still -8 per Vegas odds.

Pacers will end this in six.

[BrianInPhilly]

Despite the talks of comeback, Pacers still -8 per Vegas odds.

Pacers will end this in six.

As someone rooting & higher on Pacers than most, I'm shocked the line is so high. Even if Giannis/Lillard don't play, 5-6 seems about right.

[BrianInPhilly]

Am I the only one that has noticed a strong bias toward the Bucks in the announcing this series though? One example is I feel like the announcers say every 10 minutes "undermanned Bucks team" or "without Giannis and Lillard" ... yet I don't remember them saying once that Mathurin was out for the Pacers. And Mathurin would have helped a ton in a game like this. With Hali struggling, he's clearly the best at breaking down defenses & he's got that edge/aggressiveness they were sorely lacking from their guards in this game. Nembhard in particular lacked aggressiveness in this game ... too much aimlessly passing the ball around the perimeter by him & the guards

Just my opinion but Giannis + Dame > Mathurin.

Um duh. That's not the point. The point the announcers don't even mention Mathurin is out ... Meanwhile every chance they get the mention the other 2 are out. If that's not bias I don't know what is. They'll say something like "With Giannis and Lillard out, Milwakee having struggles getting into the lane" ... Meanwhile Hali is playing injured and Mathurin is out but never once did they say "With Mathurin out, where will they find dribble penetration into the lane". It's bias, and obviously it's affecting posters here even by people like yourself dismissing Mathuring being out. It obviously affects the Pacers when they can't get much going in the halfcourt.

Like my dad is a casual observer and he didn't even know Mathurin was even injured. lol. That's pretty much the definition of media/announcer bias - the fact every person watching the game is aware of the Bucks challenges w/ players injured, but not many observers know Pacers also dealing with an injury. That's all I'm saying.

[BrianInPhilly]

Am I the only one that has noticed a strong bias toward the Bucks in the announcing this series though? One example is I feel like the announcers say every 10 minutes "undermanned Bucks team" or "without Giannis and Lillard" ... yet I don't remember them saying once that Mathurin was out for the Pacers. And Mathurin would have helped a ton in a game like this. With Hali struggling, he's clearly the best at breaking down defenses & he's got that edge/aggressiveness they were sorely lacking from their guards in this game. Nembhard in particular lacked aggressiveness in this game ... too much aimlessly passing the ball around the perimeter by him & the guards

Yes, Greg Anthony the last couple of games acted like the Bucks were a full strength team. So it's the opposite. Apparently you were miffed they pointed out the relevant reality at all.

Do the Nuggets win a series down Jokic, Murray for a 3+ games, & Gordon/Porter hobbled? Of course not. And that's what the Bucks are dealing w/. Means exponentially more than Benedict Mathurin. That's more a standard playoff unavailability issue.

"acted like" whats that even mean Are you saying instead of every 10 minutes mentioning Giannis is out, they should say it every sentence of the game

[Jadoogar]

The Pacers should close it out tomorrow if they play to their capabilities.

The big x-factor is obv Giannis. If by some miracle he is back, it might come down to how close to 100% he is.

I don't think he's going to play. It's a tall order to ask him a guy who hasn't played for a month to immediately come back to playoff level basketball and save the team.

If Giannis does comeback, i'm assuming he's going come back in the next series (if it happens).

Pacers can't beat themselves. Losing to a team without their two best players was really embarrassing.

[chrisab123]

Technically the series is still 2-0 Bucks. The games don't count if they're not at full strength. So if they win the next two they'll sweep the Pacers. Just takes longer thats all. At least Middleton played in this series.

[soboMP3]

Oh look, one of those "Middleton didn't play, series doesn't count" funny Celtics fans! Hilarious!

[durden_tyler]

Despite the talks of comeback, Pacers still -8 per Vegas odds.

Pacers will end this in six.

As someone rooting & higher on Pacers than most, I'm shocked the line is so high. Even if Giannis/Lillard don't play, 5-6 seems about right.

Indeed it is. And that's why i trust the Pacers will win via a blowout (or so i hope LOL).

[CIN-C-STAR]

Am I the only one that has noticed a strong bias toward the Bucks in the announcing this series though? One example is I feel like the announcers say every 10 minutes "undermanned Bucks team" or "without Giannis and Lillard" ... yet I don't remember them saying once that Mathurin was out for the Pacers. And Mathurin would have helped a ton in a game like this. With Hali struggling, he's clearly the best at breaking down defenses & he's got that edge/aggressiveness they were sorely lacking from their guards in this game. Nembhard in particular lacked aggressiveness in this game ... too much aimlessly passing the ball around the perimeter by him & the guards

Just my opinion but Giannis + Dame > Mathurin.

Um duh. That's not the point. The point the announcers don't even mention Mathurin is out ... Meanwhile every chance they get the mention the other 2 are out. If that's not bias I don't know what is. They'll say something like "With Giannis and Lillard out, Milwakee having struggles getting into the lane" ... Meanwhile Hali is playing injured and Mathurin is out but never once did they say "With Mathurin out, where will they find dribble penetration into the lane". It's bias, and obviously it's affecting posters here even by people like yourself dismissing Mathuring being out. It obviously affects the Pacers when they can't get much going in the halfcourt.

Like my dad is a casual observer and he didn't even know Mathurin was even injured. lol. That's pretty much the definition of media/announcer bias - the fact every person watching the game is aware of the Bucks challenges w/ players injured, but not many observers know Pacers also dealing with an injury. That's all I'm saying.

Mathurin is a bench scorer that played 26 minutes a game.
Giannis is a former MVP.
Dame is a former 1st-team All-NBA guy.
One is not like the other.
Most casuals probably couldn't even tell you who Benedict Mathurin is lol.
It's not really bias. Of course the media talks more about two of the more well-known players in the league instead of some relative nobody.
If Hali & Siakam were out for Indy, and Jae Crowder out for the Bucks, I'm pretty sure they'd talk about Hali & Siakam a lot more than Crowder

[chrisab123]

Oh look, one of those "Middleton didn't play, series doesn't count" funny Celtics fans! Hilarious!

I agree it was pretty hilarious reading that point being parroted by Bucks fans on here a couple years back.

[soboMP3]

Except no one ever said the series "didn't count" like the "Middleton out, game doesn't count" tripe you guys trot out in every Bucks/Celtics game thread. But whatever, keep on being funny. A real jokester over here!

[theFireBlanket]

Oh look, one of those "Middleton didn't play, series doesn't count" funny Celtics fans! Hilarious!

I agree it was pretty hilarious reading that point being parroted by Bucks fans on here a couple years back.

Khris is a Celtics slayer. The Js can't stop him, & neither can Jrue so far.

You've watched him cook the Pacers & now you double down on thinking the Bucks weren't kept from beating the Cs in a series that went 7 games. Giannis could barely move in the 2nd half of G7 because he went so hard the full series. So many close games & bad shots from Jrue, that could've been decided/taken by Khris.

Believe what you want. Series doesn't go 7 with Khris/Jrue/Giannis defending their title together that year. *Wes Matthews was on one defensively.

[Drakeem]

Am I the only one that has noticed a strong bias toward the Bucks in the announcing this series though? One example is I feel like the announcers say every 10 minutes "undermanned Bucks team" or "without Giannis and Lillard" ... yet I don't remember them saying once that Mathurin was out for the Pacers. And Mathurin would have helped a ton in a game like this. With Hali struggling, he's clearly the best at breaking down defenses & he's got that edge/aggressiveness they were sorely lacking from their guards in this game. Nembhard in particular lacked aggressiveness in this game ... too much aimlessly passing the ball around the perimeter by him & the guards

Just my opinion but Giannis + Dame > Mathurin.

Um duh. That's not the point. The point the announcers don't even mention Mathurin is out ... Meanwhile every chance they get the mention the other 2 are out. If that's not bias I don't know what is. They'll say something like "With Giannis and Lillard out, Milwakee having struggles getting into the lane" ... Meanwhile Hali is playing injured and Mathurin is out but never once did they say "With Mathurin out, where will they find dribble penetration into the lane". It's bias, and obviously it's affecting posters here even by people like yourself dismissing Mathuring being out. It obviously affects the Pacers when they can't get much going in the halfcourt.

Like my dad is a casual observer and he didn't even know Mathurin was even injured. lol. That's pretty much the definition of media/announcer bias - the fact every person watching the game is aware of the Bucks challenges w/ players injured, but not many observers know Pacers also dealing with an injury. That's all I'm saying.

I mean there's a clear difference in having Giannis + Dame out vs Mathurin. I like him, but lets not pretend like at his current state he's not just a decent starter.

[LUKE23]

Bucks would have beaten the Celtics with Midds. It went 7 already and Middleton destroys them.

Giannis was completely out of gas in game 7 due to the offensive workload he had to shoulder for the entire series.

Middleton is a great playoff player. To discount his injury in any series is just kind of stupid.

[Larry_Russell]

Except no one ever said the series "didn't count" like the "Middleton out, game doesn't count" tripe you guys trot out in every Bucks/Celtics game thread. But whatever, keep on being funny. A real jokester over here!

this post would have hit harder if you had quoted Middleton in it.

[CIN-C-STAR]

The line has suspiciously dropped from Bucks +8.5 to Bucks +6.
If I had to guess, someone knows something and Giannis and/or Dame is playing (my guess is just Dame).

[theFireBlanket]

The line has suspiciously dropped from Bucks +8.5 to Bucks +6.
If I had to guess, someone knows something and Giannis and/or Dame is playing (my guess is just Dame).

Giannis would be a huge swing. Dame's status was changed to questionable.

[Chuck Everett]

Well, according to wiretap, it looks like Lillard and Giannis will be dressed and at least go through walkthroughs. Very interesting.