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

[theFireBlanket]

Surprised by Game 1 honestly ... Thinking it was maybe rust more than inexperience in that 1st half. Bucks starters are just more seasoned, probably better prepared to "stay ready" with the long layoff than the Pacers guys. Indy had so much more bounce in their step in the 2nd half, I'm rooting for them so I hope that continues in Game 2.

Bucks squashed their little run, after losing the plot on rebounds & taking foot off the pedal in the 3rd. Refs made a 20 something lead 15, with favorable Indy calls & letting Dame get mauled late.

Actually Doc Rivers had the team scrimmage against all young players with the caveat the young squad never took the ball out after a make. So the rotation was forced to work on transition defense being sped up.

You could tell they were well prepared. Doc had em doing 8 hour practices.

[srhcan]

Where are the made a mistake letting Griffin go folks at? This game is Exhibit A and all you really need to know why exactly he was told to take a hike.

Oh man you believe in Doc more than his own mama

[old skool]

I think it is fan buffoonery to suggest that having the player who scored a team record 35 points in the 1st half of a playoff game (and zero points in the 2nd half) might mean that the Bucks would be better off without the player who, after scoring 17 points in the 1st half of a playoff game a few years ago, set and holds the team record for a playoff game with 33 2nd half points.

35 1st half points is clutch, but not as clutch as 33 2nd half points in a Finals game 6. Totaling 50 points on 64% shooting, 33% from 3-point, 14 rebounds, 2 assists, 5 blocks and capped with a Finals MVP, but maybe the Bucks would be better without him?

Buffoonery.

[skones]

Where are the made a mistake letting Griffin go folks at? This game is Exhibit A and all you really need to know why exactly he was told to take a hike.

I would have waited a little longer before pulling the trigger on this one, lol

No, I don't. I actually watch the team. Doc had his hands on the wheel on the defensive end from the tip last night. That was something that Adrian Griffin consistently showed an inability to do. The move was ALWAYS about the defensive end in the playoffs.

Without Giannis the Bucks pushed Indiana into shots they were willing to concede with consistency and held them to 94 points. This is a team, without Siakam, that scored 126, 128, 126, 122, and 142 on them in the regular season.

[MiltownMadness]

That was not an encouraging 2nd half for Indy, Bucks would quickly shut the door every single time they tried to make a run. Refs were also clearly favoring Indy too much in the 2nd half and it didn't matter at all. Bucks need to keep getting back defensively, it appears that was a point of emphasis coming into the game. Bucks have many advantages even without Giannis, it will be very hard for Indy to win if they can't run Milwaukee out of the gym, which Milwaukee is clearly trying to prevent based off game 1.

Doc did a good job getting them prepared, need to double down on it in game 2

[JonHeist]

Where are the made a mistake letting Griffin go folks at? This game is Exhibit A and all you really need to know why exactly he was told to take a hike.

I would have waited a little longer before pulling the trigger on this one, lol

No, I don't. I actually watch the team. Doc had his hands on the wheel on the defensive end from the tip last night. That was something that Adrian Griffin consistently showed an inability to do. The move was ALWAYS about the defensive end in the playoffs.

Without Giannis the Bucks pushed Indiana into shots they were willing to concede with consistency and held them to 94 points. This is a team, without Siakam, that scored 126, 128, 126, 122, and 142 on them in the regular season.

it's really funny how virtually nobody who watches every bucks game has had any complaints about doc

and then we gotta hear about how awful he is constantly from folks who have caught maybe 5 bucks games all season

[old skool]

Where are the made a mistake letting Griffin go folks at? This game is Exhibit A and all you really need to know why exactly he was told to take a hike.

Oh man you believe in Doc more than his own mama

The results under Griffin were horrendous.

Milwaukee played without any cohesion on offense or defense. Their long time roster core of Lopez, Portis, Connaughton, Middleton and Antetokounmpo played confused and disorganized, obviously not knowing what they were supposed to do. Players who had demonstrated that they could play together over the years were in chaos. Anyone, anyone, with a scintilla of knowledge of basketball could see that the Bucks were going nowhere with Griffin at the helm and that their winning record was a byproduct of a home heavy schedule full of weaker opponents that were vulnerable to a team with superstar talent that could win games on individual effort.

When Griffin was released, the chaos, confusion and disorganization went away. The replacement coaches began putting new structures in place on the fly and integrating Lillard and other recent roster acquisitions. The transition was not about Rivers being especially good, but rather about the results under Griffin being so horrible.

[jkvonny]

Where are the made a mistake letting Griffin go folks at? This game is Exhibit A and all you really need to know why exactly he was told to take a hike.

Hey, don't jinx it!

Doc may be taking a lil hike himself if the Bucks don't get far in the postseason.

Milw FO likes to fire their coaches in spurts. (I dont think they'll fire Doc, but still lol).

[NyKnicks1714]

I would have waited a little longer before pulling the trigger on this one, lol

No, I don't. I actually watch the team. Doc had his hands on the wheel on the defensive end from the tip last night. That was something that Adrian Griffin consistently showed an inability to do. The move was ALWAYS about the defensive end in the playoffs.

Without Giannis the Bucks pushed Indiana into shots they were willing to concede with consistency and held them to 94 points. This is a team, without Siakam, that scored 126, 128, 126, 122, and 142 on them in the regular season.

it's really funny how virtually nobody who watches every bucks game has had any complaints about doc


and then we gotta hear about how awful he is constantly from folks who have caught maybe 5 bucks games all season

Well first of all, unless Doc has suddenly completely changed, we have 25 years to go by, not 5 games.

And I don't think anyone is claiming Adrian Griffin is a better coach than Doc Rivers. But the entire situation was handled terribly, and Milwaukee has underachieved under Doc. He needs to have a lot of success before that whole ordeal can be considered a net positive. Pumping your fists and declaring his hiring as validated after one game is beyond premature, even if that one game corroborates what you think about his coaching.

[skones]

No, I don't. I actually watch the team. Doc had his hands on the wheel on the defensive end from the tip last night. That was something that Adrian Griffin consistently showed an inability to do. The move was ALWAYS about the defensive end in the playoffs.

Without Giannis the Bucks pushed Indiana into shots they were willing to concede with consistency and held them to 94 points. This is a team, without Siakam, that scored 126, 128, 126, 122, and 142 on them in the regular season.

it's really funny how virtually nobody who watches every bucks game has had any complaints about doc


and then we gotta hear about how awful he is constantly from folks who have caught maybe 5 bucks games all season

Well first of all, unless Doc has suddenly completely changed, we have 25 years to go by, not 5 games.

And I don't think anyone is claiming Adrian Griffin is a better coach than Doc Rivers. But the entire situation was handled terribly, and Milwaukee has underachieved under Doc. He needs to have a lot of success before that whole ordeal can be considered a net positive. Pumping your fists and declaring his hiring as validated after one game is beyond premature, even if that one game corroborates what you think about his coaching.

For someone who's out here math-ing, you should probably be consistent and do it both ways. We've got A LOT of games that show us Doc is a FAR superior coach to Griffin. When you're trying to win a championship, seeing his hiring and Griffin's firing as anything other than a positive is bonkers.

Is Doc an ideal outcome for coaching this team? Unlikely, we shouldn't have fired an elite coach in Bud in the first place. The point is that we have an old team. Griffin represents a burnt year if he were to stay at the helm. We can't burn years.

[hippesthippo]

Pacers in 5.

Anti-climatic ending for a drama filled season in Milwaukee. Gonna be a lot of soul searching going on over there this Summer. Aging players, bloated contracts, **** coaching... What a mess.

The Pacers have enough issues, why you out here trying to jinx us into oblivion?!

Nah, just giving my opinion on each series as I was placing my bets lol.

[GiannisAnte34]

Pacers in 5.

Anti-climatic ending for a drama filled season in Milwaukee. Gonna be a lot of soul searching going on over there this Summer. Aging players, bloated contracts, **** coaching... What a mess.

The Pacers have enough issues, why you out here trying to jinx us into oblivion?!

Nah, just giving my opinion on each series as I was placing my bets lol.

you probably thought "same story, Miami upset Milwaukee while Giannis was injured so Indy can do the same"

difference is Miami has the most elite coach in the league when it comes to getting the maximum out of his guys and Jimmy Butler was coasting the regular season. we still don't even know if Hali is legitimately an elite player

I personally believe Mathurin has the 2nd highest ceiling of anyone on the Pacers also. him being out is a hit to their pace

[JonHeist]

The Pacers have enough issues, why you out here trying to jinx us into oblivion?!

Nah, just giving my opinion on each series as I was placing my bets lol.

you probably thought "same story, Miami upset Milwaukee while Giannis was injured so Indy can do the same"

difference is Miami has the most elite coach in the league when it comes to getting the maximum out of his guys and Jimmy Butler was coasting the regular season. we still don't even know if Hali is legitimately an elite player

I personally believe Mathurin has the 2nd highest ceiling of anyone on the Pacers also. him being out is a hit to their pace

an even bigger difference than the coach is that Jimmy averaged 37.6PPG on 67% TS in that series against us last year!

a statline Jordan never even matched

truly one of the very best performances all time and it kinda gets forgotten because he was back to being a 25ppg 55% ts player the rest of their finals run and people who didn't watch that series assume that's the guy who beat us, not the reincarnation of Prime MJ

[theFireBlanket]

Nah, just giving my opinion on each series as I was placing my bets lol.

you probably thought "same story, Miami upset Milwaukee while Giannis was injured so Indy can do the same"

difference is Miami has the most elite coach in the league when it comes to getting the maximum out of his guys and Jimmy Butler was coasting the regular season. we still don't even know if Hali is legitimately an elite player

I personally believe Mathurin has the 2nd highest ceiling of anyone on the Pacers also. him being out is a hit to their pace

an even bigger difference than the coach is that Jimmy averaged 37.6PPG on 67% TS in that series against us last year!

a statline Jordan never even matched

truly one of the very best performances all time and it kinda gets forgotten because he was back to being a 25ppg 55% ts player the rest of their finals run and people who didn't watch that series assume that's the guy who beat us, not the reincarnation of Prime MJ

Got injured vs NYK or he might have looked the part through Denver.

[Chuck Everett]

Let's see if Nesmith and Nembhard show up tonight.

[boomershadow]

Nembhard fouling Lillard's kicked out foot

[Chuck Everett]

Pat Bev is in Haliburton's jock.

[Chuck Everett]

Brook Lopez from the parking lot.

[Chuck Everett]

Pacers look a lot better tonight than Sunday.

[Exp0sed]

this Dame resurgence is crazy
I mean after being pretty meh all year long and getting dumped on from every direction, he literally flipped the switch. did what a vet can do, playing oppussom, ramping up slowly and being ready at the right time

if Bucks defeat Indy without Giannis, Dame will get his props. helps his legacy as well, dude ballin' out