The Indiana Pacers blew a golden opportunity to finish off the Milwaukee Bucks in Game 5 and advance to the second round and gain some valuable rest time as they were demolished and embarrassed by a team without their two best players in Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard.

The Bucks won 115-92 as Patrick Beverley went off for 13 points and 12 assists while “too small”-ing multiple defenders through the game. Bobby Portis kept his cool and cooked whoever was guarding him with 29 points and 10 rebounds. The Pacers never matched the Bucks level of urgency after the first quarter and got humbled after three consecutive wins in the series.

It’s the first time in NBA history that a team has won a playoff game without their top-two leading scorers per ESPN’s Malika Andrews Put it in the Pacers hall of shame.

And now Doc Rivers seems optimistic that both could return as soon as Game 6.

“I don’t know how to answer that. I hope so,” Doc Rivers said after a long hesitation when asked if Bucks winning tonight may allow his two players to have enough time to return. “They are very very very close.”

If Dame and Giannis do come back, the Pacers don’t deserve to win this series if they can’t win one of the next two games against them anyway. No excuses.

So the stakes are higher and the competition may be tougher for the Pacers to win the hardest game of a playoff series: the closeout game.

Rick Carlisle pushed as many buttons as he could in the second quarter trying to find a combination that would bring enough energy and intensity to the game. Isaiah Jackson got his first real playing time since game one. Doug McDermott got a few minutes. But the bench and depth that has been so key for the Pacers all season was simply awful, continuing the overall trend this series. The Bucks basically played just 7 in their rotation.

The Pacers were flummoxed by the Bucks switching everything and became stagnant in their offense and struggled to get into the paint with consistency. The Bucks controlled the pace like they did in the first game. The Pacers have a lot of film to watch and counters to figure out before Thursday.

Player Grades: F for everyone

TJ McConnell, who has struggled all series, was just 3 for 10 with only 6 points and 3 assists. He was -18 for the game. Obi Toppin’s box score doesn’t look bad (12/6/4) but his defense was terrible and he committed a technical foul letting Beverley get under his skin after Toppin—also -18—was called for a travel. He also had multiple miscues tipping rebounds that he couldn’t quite gather that ended up gifting points to the Bucks. Rebounding epitomized the lack of urgency most of the night with the Bucks always quicker to the contested rebounds, more forceful with holding on to it.

Pascal Siakam struggled mightily with the increased attention on him and hasn’t hit the same shots as he did from the first two games. His free-throw shooting is beyond concerning at this point as he went just 1 for 5 in this game and is down to 46.2% for the series (12 for 26). I hadn’t noticed this fully until before Game 4 during his warmup routine but he has an awkward wrist turn that isn’t there on his normal jump shot. With how he’s shooting them, hack-a-Pascal could become a thing. He was the only Pacers starter to get to the free throw line at all.

Tyrese Haliburton, who has been dealing with back spasms, had 16 points but only 6 assists. He made 4 of 10 3-pointers but like many on the team wasn’t aggressive enough in attacking the basket making 2 of 4 shots inside the arc. His defensive effort has been increased in previous games but he wasn’t able to get many stops on anyone that attacked him in this game as Malik Beasley got going for the first time all series. pat Bev hit him with a too small, and Pat Connaughton drove right past him.

Andrew Nembhard has been invaluable all series on both ends but Beverley repeatedly drove past him and scored. He contribute offensively with 12 points (6 of 12).

The Bucks switching eliminated a lot of the looks they were getting for Myles Turner all series. Turner was still very efficient but only took 9 shots, making six. He had taken nearly that many 3-pointers per game (8.5) in the first four games. While he was on the floor, the Pacers were still only outscored by 6 points—highlighting how important he still has been to Indiana this series.

Aaron Nesmith continues to struggle with his shooting in this series and he dealt with foul trouble in this game. Khris Middleton continues to get the better of him as Nesmith just doesn’t have the necessary height to consistently challenge his shot attempts. He did block three shots and get a steal but was a team low -22 in this one.

Ben Sheppard hit a pair of 3-pointers in the first quarter when it still felt like the Pacers were going to make everything they put up like game four and he was the Pacers best player off the bench in this game though that’s not saying much.

Doug McDermott hit a wide open 3 against a Bucks zone. I still have no desire to see him on the floor. Isaiah Jackson played okay and added 4 points and 4 rebounds. Lopez is simply too big for him to deal with, could maybe see him having more success against smaller Bucks lineups but would rather Pacers stick to a smaller rotation. Jarace Walker played a bunch of garbage time minutes, got a rep or two guarding Middleton including one where the Bucks vet banked in a 3. Wish Walker got more reps in the regular season so he’d be seen as more ready for this moment by the coaching staff.

TNT broadcast: bonus F – hearing the same fan shout “Tyrese sucks!” and countless other lane heckles all game was incredibly obnoxious. How is Bally of all companies better at capturing the general mood and energy of the crowd rather than just hearing one or two fans the entire game? Just an awful listen for anyone that couldn’t watch Chris Denari and Quinn Buckner.