Tyrese Haliburton is well aware of the biggest reason why his Indiana Pacers lost Game 5 of their NBA Playoffs series against the Milwaukee Bucks.
Facing a Bucks team missing the services of the injured Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard, the Pacers had a legitimate opportunity to close out the series. Instead, however, they were blown out.
Indiana Pacers Lose Big Time To Milwaukee Bucks
The Bucks led by as much as 27 points and eventually ran away with the 115-92 victory to cut the Pacers’ series lead to just 3-2. They still have a lot of work to do and can’t afford to commit any mistake, but Milwaukee certainly showed on Tuesday how mentally tough they are.
Instead of folding, though, the Bucks used a balanced scoring effort and tough defense to make life hard for the Pacers. Bobby Portis and Khris Middleton led the way with a double-double in points and rebounds, scoring 29 points apiece and combining for 22 boards.
Three others scored in double figures for the Bucks, with Patrick Beverley particularly standing out with 13 points and 12 assists.
In the contrary, no Pacers player scored more than 20 points, with Haliburton being the team’s top-scorer with 16 points.
The Bucks did really well defending the Pacers from distance, as Rick Carlisle’s men shot just 12-of-38 from deep. Milwaukee also got eight steals in order to limit one of the best offensive teams in the NBA to under 100 points.
Tyrese Haliburton Speaks on Indiana Pacers’ Loss To Milwaukee Bucks
Speaking to reporters postgame, Tyrese Haliburton shared his thoughts on what went wrong for them. Put simply, Haliburton said that they got “stagnant.”
The Pacers star noted that they need to attack more, as he felt like that they held the ball too much. He also noted that the Bucks’ switching forced them to play slower than their usual pace, per Tony East of Sports Illustrated.
Rick Carlisle, for his part, highlighted that his players didn’t play with the intensity he expected from the team.
“I don’t think we were playing with the kind of intensity we needed to, even when we had the lead,” Carlisle noted.
It remains to be seen what kind of adjustments the Indiana Pacers will make in Game 6. But hopefully, the Milwaukee Bucks will be ready for it.
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