The Indiana Pacers got a humbling first dose of playoff experience in game one against the Milwaukee Bucks as Damian Lillard lit their defense on fire for 35 first-half points as the Bucks cruised to a victory. Meanwhile, the Pacers looked as if they had never shot a basketball for much of the first half as they dealt with nerves early. The missed attempts were so off target that it was as if the ghost of Phillip Seymour-Hoffman took possession of the Pacers players to re-enact his character from Along Came Polly.
It was a nightmare to watch as the entire team outside of Pascal Siakam looked like the lights were too bright as they crumbled under the pressure of the moment instead of rising to the occasion. Rick Carlisle was so desperate to find someone that could find their footing and get the momentum swinging the other direction that he played 11 players in the first half. Nothing worked and every swing from the coach only seemed to exacerbate the team’s struggles as the team went from down 1 with 1:55 left in the first quarter to down 30 with 1:23 left in the first half. The team’s bench that had been so good through the back half of the season was a complete mess and the starters couldn’t stop the bleeding when they did return.
“The first half was embarrassing, no excuses,” said Rick Carlisle. “We’ve simply got to come out better. It was ugly and we all own it.”
The Pacers had their worst offensive showing of the season as they shot less than 40% overall, 21.1% from 3, and missed a third of their 21 free throws. Yet, they still won the rebounding battle behind the offensive glass, scored more points in the paint than the Bucks (40-34), and committed less fouls. There are signs that the Pacers can beat this team if they can figure out how to make shots. They lost the game by 15 points and were outscored at the 3-point line by 18 while taking one more 3-pointer than the Bucks did.
Despite a strong third quarter that brought the Pacers back within 12, the damage had been done. The game was essentially over when they fell behind by that massive deficit in the first half. With 11 players entering the game at a time in the season where most teams shorten their rotations, it feels like a fitting time to bring back the player grades in this one. Let’s dive in starting with the opening five and the bench will come in part two:
Pascal Siakam – A
Siakam looked like the only player that had been there before in this one. He was superb and the only reason the Pacers stayed close for much of the first quarter and the score wasn’t even more embarrassing as it got out of hand. 36 points (15-25), 13 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 2 blocks in one of his career best playoff performances. He did everything he could. Siakam repeatedly found his mid-range jumper around the free-throw line whether defended by Brook Lopez or Khris Middleton, fought on the offensive glass, and scored in his typical fashion with ease. The only flaw in this one was missing half of his 10 free throws.
While his teammates looked unsure of themselves in the sea storm of a playoff environment, Siakam was the calm, seasoned captain of the ship trying to navigate his green crew through treacherous waters of a road arena. He showed exactly why the Pacers acquired him mid-season and he’ll be worth every cent that he gets this summer when he hopefully re-signs in Indiana.
Tyrese Haliburton – D–
You could be forgiven if you thought Haliburton was out with an injury in this game because of how invisible he was during far too many of his minutes. The Bucks were focused on taking him away more than anything and Haliburton repeatedly found the open man but the Pacers shooters clanked just about every open attempt. Haliburton finished with a pedestrian performance of 9 points (4 for 7), 8 assists, and 7 rebounds. His three turnovers were bad passes from poor decisions.
Haliburton isn’t the only one to blame for him only taking seven attempts as the team consistently struggled to make the extra pass when the Bucks defense left him like when T.J. McConnell inexplicably took and missed a second straight 3-pointer with 11 seconds left on the shot clock as Haliburton was without a defender within 15-feet one pass away or when Myles Turner barreled down on a drive from the corner while narrowly avoiding a charge instead of finding the point guard open at the top of the key.
“We missed him a couple times tonight,” said Turner. “The three leaders, me, him, and Pascal, got together and talked about ways to get him going. Tyrese knows it’s not going to be easy for him to get shots off. He’s the main focal point for the other team … it’s about getting him in his spots and putting him in position to make plays.”
However, Haliburton was also too quick to give up the ball when he had advantageous matchups like Malik Beasley or Damian Lillard. In those rare occasions where the Bucks didn’t get their preferred defender onto him, it was necessary for him to attack one-on-one instead of calling for a screen and immediately being doubled. Too often he would just give up the ball without probing the defense at all. He seemed to want to let the game come to him but the Pacers needed him to take the game over with so many of his teammates struggling.
“Ty plays the right way,” Siakam said. “They put a lot of attention on him. Every possession down the floor it feels like he’s doubled. He’s going to find his way. For me, it’s trying to find ways to get him open, get him some open shots but they are sending everything at him.”
While he fought hard to show and recover on defense, miscommunications from this also led to multiple open buckets like when he left Middleton open under the basket, expecting Nesmith to recover to him. He got taken to the basket once by Patrick Beverly but also blocked his shot on another drive attempt.
If the Pacers want to win this series, they’ll obviously have to get more than 9 points and 7 shots from Haliburton.
“I just got to be better,” Haliburton said, “and I will be on Tuesday.”
Myles Turner – D+
Turner’s aggression was good to see to an extent in this one as he didn’t hesitate to put his shot up but the results simply weren’t there. He made just 5 of 17 shots on his way to 17 points. He was only 2 for 8 inside the arc and 3 for 9 outside of it. He’s going to have the open looks from deep all series as the Bucks have been find with leaving him open all season and he’ll have to make them pay to help change the coverages that Haliburton is seeing.
He was the only Pacers player with a positive plus/minus at +2 and you could argue his grade should be slightly higher but the fact that he seemed to struggle with nerves to begin this game while being one of the few players with significant playoff experience was disappointing and why I’m keeping him at D+. His line beyond the poor shooting is solid at 17 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 steals. He was the only Pacers play to hit more than a single 3-pointer.
Andrew Nembhard: D+
Nembhard was the primary defender on the majority of Lillard’s 35 first-half points but it’s hard to fault his defense at times. He got a tough whistle multiple times including at the start of the game where Lillard foul baited on a 3-point “shot attempt” that allowed him to gain a rhythm early with three free throws. He got called for a few ticky tack fouls that the team wasn’t expecting as multiple guys mentioned how the refs let you get away with more physicality in the playoffs in the week leading up to the game. He was part of a miscommunication with McDermott who was attempting to show hard against Lillard but Nembhard attempted to switch. When Doug was ready to run back to his man, Nembhard had already retreated as they both left the on-fire Lillard wide open.
In the second half, he helped hold Lillard to zero points with the help of some adjustments with how they defended him and he also was more aggressive in his ball denials from 94-feet. I just can’t quite give him anything in the C-range with how bad the opening half was even if he wasn’t helped by a tough whistle and a poor defensive strategy. He didn’t do enough on offense to make Lillard work on that end as he finished with just 6 points on six shot attempts while adding three assists and zero turnovers.
Aaron Nesmith – D
Nesmith seemed to be one of the players most affected by jitters in the first half and he never looked comfortable taking his outside shot as he made just 1 of 7 from deep. He hustled on defense and did what he could against the taller Middleton but wasn’t able to do much to alter his attempts as he went 9 for 14. He looked so lost at times that it’s one reason why Carlisle tried McDermott with the starters for those awful minutes in the first half. He had the misfortunate of being posterized by Brook Lopez on an attempt to take a charge. Good no call by the refs in my opinion. If someone completes the dunk, it should never be a charge. I got to stay consistent after saying the same about Myles Turner’s dunk over Evan Mobley.
Bonus thoughts on the coaching: Rick Carlisle
There are plenty of complaints from a fanbase anytime a team losses a playoff game especially in such an embarrassing fashion as the Pacers did. Taken at face value, the fact that Carlisle played 11 players in the first half of the opening games of the playoffs is concerning but it clearly wasn’t what he planned or intended. With Jalen Smith struggling, Carlisle looked to see if Isaiah Jackson would perform better. With Ben Sheppard and Aaron Nesmith both not playing well in the first half, he went to Doug McDermott. While you can question why Carlisle didn’t just go back to Myles Turner sooner over trying a third center or why he didn’t try rookie Jarace Walker over McDermott, it’s clear that Carlisle was going away from whatever the original rotation plan was going to be due to the team’s general ineptitude in the first half and trying to push the right buttons to get the team back on track. Obviously, it didn’t work and he deserves some criticism because of that.
The bigger issues for me in game one were why the Pacers weren’t prepared to treat Damian Lillard—in a game they knew would likely be missing Giannis Antetokounmpo—like the Bucks treated Tyrese Haliburton with constant traps and double teams or at minimum why the Pacers waited until the second half to make the necessary changes to their defensive strategy against him. 19 points in the first quarter should have been enough to warrant trying to trap and force others to make more plays.
While I can at least understand why McDermott entered the game in the second quarter, I can’t make any sense of him coming back in the second half after the team was outscored by 11 points in less than 3 minutes in his first stretch on the floor. For him to not only come in to end the third quarter’s final minute but then start the fourth quarter after the Pacers had cut the lead to a reasonable 12 points was baffling. I expect the Pacers will shorten the rotation in the next game but McDermott wasn’t playable in the playoffs in 2020 against the Heat, no reason to think that he would be four years later.
Bench grades available here.
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[…] If you missed part one with grades on the starters you can find it here. […]
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