Few probably would have bet on them in the Eastern Conference, but the Pacers continue their journey: they are in the final of the “In-Season Tournament”! After crushing the Celtics in the quarter-finals, the players ofIndiana have remained faithful to their formula: to beat them, you will have to score more points than them.
And even the Bucks, holders of the third best attack in the league, did not succeed (128-119)! The fault, above all, lies with a defense which continues to question this season, after the departure of Jrue Holiday. Damaged in the first half in their half by the pace of play of their young opponents (63-51 at half-time), the players of Milwaukee had however regained control of the match in the third quarter, thanks to a huge increase in power of their attack (43 points in this third quarter).
But in the last act, the Bucks were unable to avoid the inevitable, namely this race to who will score the most points. And in this little game, it was the best attack in the league which gradually broke away (37-25 in the fourth quarter), under the impetus of a Tyrese Haliburton always breathtaking in his mastery (27 points and 15 assists, without any ball loss), author of a decisive 3-point “stepback” in the “money-time”.
Inconsistent in the regular season, the Pacers flew through this first “In-Season Tournament” thanks to their supersonic attack. There remains one last challenge: beating the Lakers in the final on Saturday evening, and thus winning the very first NBA Cup, without forgetting of course the $500,000 bonus for each player.
To remember
– The carefree Pacers in the final! We border on caricature at times as their defensive level is low, but these Pacers are on the other hand absolutely brilliant to watch in attack. Young, fiery, fast and athletic, Rick Carlisle's players embody modern run-and-gun, and they run their attack at a supercharged pace. And in the spirit of a grandiose Tyrese Haliburton at the helm, everyone is enjoying themselves: eight players with 8 points or more! And again, it was an evening without as far as the external address was concerned: 7/33. The bill could have been even steeper for the Bucks if the Pacers had not missed numerous open shots. In addition to the XXL performance of Tyrese Haliburton, we will also remember the copious double-double of Myles Turner (26 points and 10 rebounds), also valuable for his defensive volume (3 blocks), as usual.
– The Bucks must (re)find their defensive identity. A reference in defense for several years, the Bucks are far from the mark this season. They are in fact among the ten worst teams in the league, both in terms of average points conceded per game (118.3 points per game) and in evaluation (116.2 points per 100 possessions)… The “swap” of Jrue Holiday and his defensive profile by Damian Lillard and his offensive profile obviously has something to do with it. Particularly when it comes to point-of-attack defense against fast leaders like Tyrese Haliburton, but more broadly, in body language, we feel a glaring lack of involvement. Productive collectively in attack, the Milwaukee players have not yet found the same chemistry in their half, and this is starting to become worrying after more than a month of competition.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
How to read the stats? Min = Minutes; Shots = Successful shots / Attempted shots; 3pts = 3-points / 3-points attempted; LF = free throws made / free throws attempted; O = offensive rebound; D=defensive rebound; T = Total rebounds; Pd = assists; Fte: Personal fouls; Int = Intercepts; Bp = Lost balls; Ct: Against; +/- = Point differential when the player is on the field; Pts = Points; Eval: player evaluation calculated from positive actions – negative actions.
