On paper, the Milwaukee Bucks are supposed to be a better team than the Indiana Pacers. After all, the Bucks have two elite superstars on their roster in Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard.
Well, this simply was not the case for Milwaukee on Wednesday night as the Pacers outplayed them en route to a 142-130 victory at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indiana. This marked the Pacers’ second win over the Bucks in the span of three days.
Pacers Coach Sings Praises of Milwaukee Bucks Superstars
Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle had nothing but praise for Milwaukee’s stars, though. Heading into Wednesday’s showdown, the veteran shot-caller spoke highly of Antetokounmpo and Lillard and what they bring to the table for the Bucks:
“You’re talking about guys that are generational-type player that are so good that have helped redefine the game, that it’s going to take an amazing effort to try to contain them at all,” Carlisle said before the game, via Jim Owczarski of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
“I mean we did better on Giannis last game (on Jan. 1) and he still had 30 points. It’s like trying to keep him under 50. It’s ridiculous how good he is. Lillard presents a different kind of problem. Playing players like this and a team like this you’ve got to be willing to step in and be there and take charges and do stuff that a lot of players really don’t love doing.”
The Pacers did exactly that on Wednesday night. His players heard Carlisle’s message loud and clear as they made sure to do whatever needed to be done against the Bucks.
Giannis still finished with 26 points on 8-of-13 shooting, while Lillard chipped in with 23. In the end, however, it was still mission accomplished for Indiana as they slapped the Bucks with their fourth loss against them in five games played this season.
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