“We don’t need your respect. We take it.”
This is the message pinned at the top of the Indiana Pacers’ team X account. Well, the Pacers took some respect in their playoff opener, defeating the Milwaukee Bucks 117-98 in a game they held in full control from start to finish. After making it to the Eastern Conference Finals last year, it is clear Indiana is carrying a chip on their shoulder, and they proved this with their play to open the postseason.
Indiana took control of the lead with 8:50 remaining in the first quarter and never looked back. The lead expanded to as high as 28 in the matchup, although Milwaukee never waved the white flag and cut it to as little as 12 with 5:24 left in the fourth quarter.
Pascal Siakam led the Pacers in scoring with 25 points and seven rebounds, finishing with a game-high +28 plus-minus. Tyrese Haliburton flirted with a triple-double, finishing with 10 points, 12 assists, and seven rebounds. Myles Turner also added 19 points, while six different players finished with 10+ points in a complete team effort. Indiana also outscored Milwaukee 22-5 on the fast break.
For the Bucks, it was a story of the complementary pieces. Giannis Antetokounmpo brought his expected level of impact and finished the matchup with 36 points and 12 rebounds. The rest of the starting lineup combined for just 14 total points, with both Kyle Kuzma and Taurean Prince going scoreless.
Despite playing 22 minutes, Kyle Kuzma got added to the legendary Tony Snell list by not registering a single statistic. Perhaps even worse (or more impressive), Kuzma was 0-for-5 from the floor and 0-for-2 at the free throw line while being a team-worst -24. This was the most minutes played by any player to record no stats across the past 10 playoffs.
The absence of Damian Lillard was notable as he watched on from the team’s bench. There was some positive news earlier this week as the nine-time All-Star has been cleared of his deep vein thrombosis and is no longer on blood-thinning medication. The door is not shut on Lillard potentially returning for game two, but he will need to resume contact workouts before being cleared.
Lillard did manage to make his impact felt in the game by picking up a technical foul with 1:32 remaining in the fourth quarter. There was some spirited trash talk between Tyrese Haliburton and Lillard on the bench.
Milwaukee deserves credit for continuing to compete until the end with Gary Trent Jr., AJ Green, and Kevin Porter Jr. each providing 12 or more points off the bench. They will now look to regroup before these teams face off again on Tuesday.
The Pacers were -6.5 point favorites for the series opener on DraftKings Sportsbook and -218 on the Moneyline. They comfortably covered and the game fell under the 226.5 game total.
Heading into the series opener, Indiana held -165 odds of winning the series on DraftKings Sportsbook, with 46% of the handle and 42% of the bets backing the Pacers. Milwaukee held +135 odds to enter the series with 54% of the handle and 58% of the bets on their side.
Following the win, the Pacers have moved to -275 favorites to win the series on DraftKings Sportsbook with the Bucks holding +215 odds of winning the seven-game series.
The Pacers open up as 6.5-point favorites and -218 in the Moneyline once again for the second matchup, which will also take place in Indiana. Milwaukee holds +180 odds on the Moneyline with this game set to take place on Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. ET.
