MILWAUKEE – After the Milwaukee Bucks’ 140-126 win over the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday, Damian Lillard found himself in a reflective mood.
Giannis Antetokounmpo scored a career-high 64 points, setting a franchise record for points in a game. Lillard moved into fifth place on the NBA’s list for career 3-pointers made with 2,451 in his 12-year career. And then, all kinds of postgame action ensued as Antetokounmpo tried to figure out the parade ground for that night’s official game ball.
It was enough to make Lillard think about his childhood.
“I come from a big family,” Lillard explained after the game. “I grew up with a lot of cousins and we took the bus to school together every day and we got a bunch of stuff growing up in Oakland. And one thing I know is when things happen, whether it’s extremely serious or it’s small, anytime you can get into something and you can look and see that people got your back and they’re with you, that changes things
“And I’ve been in that situation a lot in my life where I’ve just had an argument about the video game with one of my cousins and then something happens and they’re the first ones to jump for me and it just changes. relationships It helps you form a real bond, not just one that is forced. Just like, ‘Okay. We roll with each other.’ And I think tonight, for our team, it was just a step in that direction where we kind of – we were with each other, so I’m not saying that’s going to make us the greatest in the world, but it was a step in the right direction.”
After losing to the Pacers in Las Vegas during the in-season tournament, their second loss to Indiana this season, the Bucks were not happy entering Wednesday’s game. In the lead up to the rematch, they weren’t shy about saying they wouldn’t let it happen again. But they didn’t get off to a strong start.
In the first five minutes they showed a lack of intensity and Indiana exploited those weaknesses in the same way as they had in the first two meetings. The Pacers grabbed six offensive rebounds in the first five and a half minutes. They scored in transition twice after made baskets. (Note: That’s technically not a transition possession, but there’s no other way to describe a basket scored this quickly after a made basket at the other end.)
It felt like the Bucks were going to be sold out of their own gym, and then Antetokounmpo sent a message.
He was assessed a technical foul for his forearm to Tyrese Haliburton, but the tone he set let his teammates know the Pacers weren’t just going to walk all over them the rest of the night. By the end of the first quarter, Milwaukee had a three-point lead behind the energy of Antetokounmpo and young wings MarJon Beauchamp and Andre Jackson Jr.
The Bucks continued their energy in the second quarter and took a seven-point lead into the second half. In the third quarter, their energy began to wane, but they got it back early in the fourth when Aaron Nesmith made a potentially dangerous foul on Antetokounmpo. The flagrant foul drew the ire of the Bucks, including Bobby Portis (19 points), who ended up with a technical.
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“I mean, just all my teammates, man, I’m just here for everybody, man,” Portis said. “I got everybody back, no matter what it is, no matter what time of day it is. It could be 3 in the morning, you call me, I’m awake. I’m ready It doesn’t matter what day of the week it is, who we’re playing, whatever it is, I’ve always got everybody, especially on that.
“If roles were reversed and it was someone else with a history, you’re thrown out,” Portis said. “But (Nesmith) didn’t make a play on the basketball and I didn’t like it.”
After review, the officials assessed Nesmith a Flagrant 1 penalty and both he and Portis received technicals. Portis and the Bucks being there for Antetokounmpo ended up being one of the most important themes of Wednesday’s victory.
And while the game ball fiasco is pretty silly in hindsight, Thanasis Antetokounmpo, Jae Crowder and Cam Payne all followed Giannis into the tunnel to help him retrieve a game ball.
“Man wanted that ball,” Payne said. “I follow my team, helping my teammate. It was just a lot of commotion, honestly. He just wanted his ball, man.
“They took the ball, this is what it looked like. But that man hit 60. Dame had all-time in 3s and (the Pacers are) on the road. You don’t have to be mad about the loss or anything. They just beat us in the In-Season Tournament, like it’s just basketball. Gotta show him love. We at home, man. If you were all at home, we can’t do that.”
The Bucks put together a strong start to the season with a 17-7 record, good for second in the Eastern Conference, but they didn’t always seem like the most connected group, with regular failures on the defensive glass and going back. transition at one end and scattered offensive efforts at the other. And Wednesday’s effort was not without flaws. But throughout the night, they had each other’s backs and protected each other.
“I feel like the whole game, the physicality was off the charts for me,” Antetokounmpo said. “From the play I tried to brace myself and had the contact with Tyrese Haliburton, from the flagging foul on me (by Nesmith), from the double technicals from the ejection, it was just like a finals atmosphere. I don’t know if you felt that, but we certainly felt it from the beginning.
“Over the last five or six years, there are very few times that a team has beaten us three times in the regular season or in a row. In fact sometimes the same team beat us twice. So, I think we kind of all played with a chip on our shoulder, that we didn’t want to come out here and have Indiana beat us for the third time in a row.”
If the Bucks want to continue to grow, they will have to play with that same fight and passion, finding a way to build on the shared moments that Lillard described after the game.
(Photo by Bobby Portis: Benny Sieu / USA Today)
