With the New York Knicks winning at home versus the Chicago Bulls on Sunday and clinching the 2nd seed in the East, the 3rd seeded Milwaukee Bucks will play the 6th seeded Indiana Pacers. The Bucks went 1-5 versus the Pacers this season with the lone win coming at home back in December. The Pacers led the NBA in scoring averaging over 123 points per game and the Bucks were amongst the worst teams defensive teams allowing over 116 points per game. The Bucks average over 119 points per game themselves but could be without former MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo for multiple games leaving the burden of carrying the offensive load on Dame Lillard and Kris Middleton.
Nov 22, 2023; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Milwaukee Bucks forward Khris Middleton (22) drives to the basket defended by Boston Celtics center Kristaps Porzingis (8) during the second half at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Paul Rutherford-USA TODAY SportsThis added responsibility offensively combined with the added responsibility defensively could be a recipe for disaster for the aging Lillard and the recovering Middleton. The expectations for the Bucks have been Finals or bust since winning the title a couple years ago. After adding Dame Lillard, firing Adrian Griffin, and hiring Doc Rivers, those expectations changed to championship or bust. However, each of those three events are built-in excuses for the team to underachieve. Lillard has never been to the Finals and has struggled to make it to the conference finals throughout his career leaving many to believe he’s not a winner or he wasted his best years being loyal to a Trailblazers organization that was going in circles.
Either way his lack of experience in huge playoff games deep in the playoffs could come to haunt the Bucks if they make a run. Yes, there have been coaching changes in-season and that team has gone on to win a championship but none of those coaches were Doc Rivers or had the history of collapses and failures of Rivers. Outside of his one championship run, Rivers is more known for blowing 3-1 series leads and underachieving in the playoffs. The Bucks are just 17-19 under Doc this season and haven’t played the Pacers which maybe the only silver lining heading into the first round match-up.
You couple the playoff struggles of Rivers and Lillard with the recent playoff struggles of the Bucks (losing to the Boston Celtics in the 2nd round in 2022 and losing to the Miami Heat in the 1st round in 2023) this could be history repeating itself. Make no mistake, the Bucks didn’t trade for Lillard last summer and sign Rivers mid-season to do anything but win a championship. Regardless of the narratives, anything less than hoisting the Larry O’Brien Trophy in June is a failure.
The Bucks and Pacers were involved in the now infamous game ball incident back in December after Giannis scored a career high 64 points and ran to the Pacers locker room to retrieve the game ball. Indiana Pacers all-star guard Tyrese Hailburton told ESPN “There probably will be some extra juice for sure.” Two teams at two different stages of building collide. The Pacers are a young up and coming team while the Bucks are a veteran team with a coach (Rivers), and co-star(Lillard) in limbo. This was thought to be a championship caliber team but after an up and down regular season, and tough first round match-up could the Bucks make another disappointing early exit in the 2024 NBA Playoffs?