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The story all tournament long from national pundits has been that the Indiana Pacers “are not supposed to be here.” They are here and they are making noise.
Led by 27 points from Tyrese Haliburton and another 26 from Myles Turner, the Pacers beat the Milwaukee Bucks 128-119 in Thursday’s NBA Cup semifinals.
“A lot of people didn’t want us here,” head coach Rick Carlisle said after the game. “We don’t care about that. We made our way here. We earned our way to three extra national TV games. So people are going to find out about the Pacers!”
Trading baskets in the first half, the Pacers set their tone late in the 1st quarter, not from their stars but from their bench.
TJ McConnell came on as Tyrese Haliburton came out for a planned change by head coach Rick Carlisle. McConnell would go on a scoring and assist spree with the help of Isaiah Jackson and Benedict Mathurin to propel the Pacers to a 40-34 lead halfway through the second quarter.
Refreshed, Haliburton came back in as the Pacers held the lead over a flummoxed Bucks team. He and Turner led a long Pacers run over the final five minutes of the 1st half to give Indiana a 12-point 63-51 lead at halftime.
Milwaukee made changes in the second half — switching to a zone defense and going on a 9-0 run at one point early in the 3rd quarter to cut the Pacers lead down to one at 67-66.
“We played them earlier this year,” Haliburton said. “It was the same situation. We were up 20. They come out in the second and go zone. We knew they were going to have to go zone against us at some point.”
Even so, the Pacers’ aggressiveness in transition stopped the game from getting too out of hand despite the resurgence of the Bucks with Giannis Antetokounmpo finding his stride. He would finish the night with 37 points.
