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The Indiana Pacers have defeated the Milwaukee Bucks in two of the first three games of the season, but the Pacers have won while not having an answer for Giannis Antetokounmpo.
In the first three games with the Pacers this season, Antetokounmpo averaged 51.7 points, 12 rebounds and five assists per game. Antetokounmpo, who scored a career-high 64 points and made a career-high 32 free throw attempts in the Bucks-Pacers game on Dec. 13, averaged 21 free throw attempts per game in those contests. Recorded.
Pacers coach Rick Carlisle responded with a question of his own when asked before Monday night’s game about how the team could limit the amount of free throws conceded to Antetokounmpo.
“Do you have any ideas?” Carlisle replied. “Look, there’s no doubt about his greatness. The problems he causes are huge, so we continue to work on it. There’s no foolproof or foolproof blueprint that will work. Then there was a lot of shooting, so that became difficult as well.”
Carlisle’s rebuttal made for some fun pregame exchanges, but the 22-year NBA head coach didn’t need any help with his game plan Monday. In his team’s fourth matchup against the Bucks, Carlisle had some new wrinkles against Antetokounmpo. His team executed that game plan well, winning 122-113 and improving to 3-1 against the Bucks (24-9) this season.
The Pacers were willing to work defenders with more limited help against Antetokounmpo in the team’s first three games, but Carlisle ramped up the pressure from the Pacers’ help defenders on Monday.
“I don’t remember posting today. I couldn’t, they double-teamed me,” Antetokounmpo said after recording 30 points, 18 rebounds and 11 assists in the loss. “So I knew that. Or every time I drove the ball, they were all getting sucked in. So for my teammates to be aggressive and make shots and for me to give them a shot.” It’s a chance to make the right play against them. That’s it.
“I wish we could have played a little more one-on-one, but we weren’t able to do that.“
Not only did the Pacers show extra support on Antetokounmpo’s drives, but they immediately double-teamed him on post touches. In the teams’ past matchups, the Pacers have either had Antetokounmpo work one-on-one with defenders or placed more defenders after Antetokounmpo dribbles. This time, doubles was effective.
Although the format was different, the Bucks handled themselves well in the first half.
The rest of the starting lineup around Antetokounmpo is full of shooters, so the Bucks always have a post-up shooter on the floor above Antetokounmpo. At the start of the game, it meant an easy wide-open 3 for Malik Beasley.
When the Pacers took open looks for shooters on the first pass from Antetokounmpo, the Bucks still found good looks by making good cuts and finding open spots on the floor.
For the first two and a half quarters, the Bucks were able to use aggressive assists from the Pacers’ Antetokounmpo to get things open. With 4:31 left in the third quarter, Antetokounmpo recorded his ninth assist on a dribble handoff to Damian Lillard, giving the Bucks their largest lead of the game at 15 points.
But things got better for the Bucks from there, as the Pacers ended the third quarter on a 17-6 run. During that run, the Pacers didn’t just take shots. They managed to get out in transition. They grabbed offensive rebounds. They took advantage of all the struggles the Bucks defense has had this season in stopping opponents and got right back into the game, but Lillard said his team could be dangerous against the Pacers. I was warned that there would be.
Lillard gave a message to his team late in the third quarter, saying, “He said we had many chances to extend our lead to 10 or 12 points, but then we stalled.” “So I was just saying, ‘Hey, this is not a team to play with.'” And I don’t think we did that on purpose. But you have to be able to recognize those things and deal with them during the game. If we do that, we can build a lead and maybe even lead by 16 or 17 points. That way they’ll be a little more disappointed instead of looking like this.” Look, you’re right there. ”
“And I think they were able to knock down a few shots. We missed, and before you know it, it’s a four-point game, and now it’s a ball game. And we made the shots. They started making shots. And if you don’t be disciplined and sharp and take care of business in the moment, you end up in the situation we ended up in, and you don’t have the right people to do things the same way. You could be playing against a team that’s a big team. You could lose a game, and we did.”
The Bucks lost their offensive rhythm in the fourth quarter, scoring just 25 points as the Pacers pulled away.
Both teams struggled to shoot the ball on Monday, with the Pacers hitting 5-of-35 (14.3%) from 3-point range and the Bucks just 10-of-40 (25%) from deep. But while the Pacers found other ways to score in the fourth quarter, the Bucks couldn’t find the same rhythm. Antetokounmpo’s double teams that led to threes and layups in the first half led to turnovers and missed shots in the fourth quarter.
On this play, Brook Lopez went wide open in the corner for a three, but instead cut into the basket at the last second.
On the next possession, the Bucs did the same as in the first half, but Beasley missed a corner 3.
Beasley has been hitting his shots at a high clip all season, making 4 of 8 from behind the 3-point line on Monday, but it was his first 3-point attempt since 9:21 of the third quarter, and he missed. did.
“It worked for a while. In the fourth quarter, we didn’t go well,” said Khris Middleton (21 points, six assists) on how the Bucks dealt with the double team the Pacers sent Antetokounmpo into. When asked, he answered: “We were a little sluggish and hit some shots, but we miscommunicated on some points and had some bad spacing, so we’ve got to clean that up for Wednesday.”
The Bucks have been one of the best teams in the league all season, but that wasn’t the case Monday as the Pacers pulled away again in the fourth quarter. Lillard has been a big part of the Bucks’ clutch success this season, but he struggled on Monday, making just 3 of 16 from the field and scoring just 13 points.
“Sometimes I think it’s just an adjustment period for me,” Lillard said. “During my career, I’ve played games with the ball. It’s easier to have a more natural rhythm to the game. It’s easier to shoot the ball than it is to have a stretch where you release the ball and hit a catch-and-shoot. I think some nights are better than others in terms of being able to manage control of the game more often than not.
“I think it’s just a different rhythm to the game, so when you’re not completely used to it, I think it’s a little bit more difficult. And like I said, the rest of it is just different from the game. It was a shot and I felt good about it, but it just didn’t go in.”
Monday’s performance improved Lillard to 16-of-50 shot attempts (32%) in three games against the Pacers this season.
After the game, Lillard admitted that his struggle to find a rhythm was more pronounced against the Pacers because he decided to play with Antetokounmpo all season. Antetokounmpo serves as the playmaking center against the Pacers, and Indiana tends to press Lillard full-court, so Lillard spent quite a bit of time off the ball against the Pacers, which makes him a strong player in these games. They haven’t been able to find the rhythm of their offense.
The Bucks were unable to continue their offense as the Pacers scored with relative ease on the other end. And as an attack-focused team, that will lead to losses.
While the Bucks were trying to find the rhythm they found in the first half, the Pacers had the opposite experience. After struggling to find ways to put Tyrese Haliburton in advantageous situations in the first half, the Pacers simplified some of their ball and player movement, leaving Haliburton guarded by Malik Beasley and Lopez at the end of the game. I just put it in the action of the two of them.
Haliburton scored nine of his 26 points in the final five minutes of Monday’s game, shutting out the Bucks and giving the Pacers their third win over the Bucks this season. The Bucks won’t have to wait long to get revenge on the Pacers, as they head to Indiana to finish their season series against the Pacers on Wednesday.
And while this may just be a regular-season game, Antetokounmpo believes it could be a valuable opportunity for the Bucks to learn something about themselves this season.
“It’s not good to lose to the same team three times, but it’s good. It’s a lesson,” Antetokounmpo said. “I don’t think that’s a bad thing, because sometimes when you get to the playoffs you think, ‘Oh, yeah, there’s no way a team can beat us four times in a row.'” But on Wednesday, regulars There could be a team that beats us four times in a season, that’s a lesson.
“We have to play with more awareness, with more urgency, take care of the ball in the middle and shoot more, because there is a team out there that can beat us four times in a row. So if you don’t play the best basketball we can play, they’re going to beat us.”
(Giannis Antetokounmpo photo: Patrick McDermott/Getty Images)
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