The NBA playoffs begin to get serious as the Indiana Pacers knock out the Milwaukee Bucks, winning 119-118 with the series now being over as Milwaukee failed to mount a comeback on Indiana’s homecourt.
A heroic performance from Bucks starman Giannis Antetokoumpo, which included 30 points, 20 rebounds and 13 assists, could not prevent the Pacers stealing the game in overtime to advance to round 2 of the NBA playoffs. Tyreese Haliburton starred for the Pacers as he made crucial shots down the stretch to keep them in the game, with them then eventually pulling away thanks to the point guard’s layup with 1.3 seconds remaining. The passionate Indiana crowd will be thrilled to see their team reach the second round with hopes of a rerun of last year’s conference finals appearance.
This week comes as a devastating blow to the Bucks organisation as their point guard and all star Damien Lillard went down with an Achilles tear in game 4 of the series. The 35 year old will be out for a significant portion of the 25/26 season, and fans wonder whether he will be able to keep up the same level of production after such a debilitating injury.
Question marks will now be raised over the future of Antetokounmpo, as he has previously put pressure on the franchise’s front office to keep the roster competitive and, with consecutive first round exits, he may be looking for a route out of Milwaukee and towards a championship level team.