For a rivalry to turn into a full-blown vendetta, there needs to be a little back-and-forth within the games themselves. The Knicks and Celtics, on paper, should hate each other, but on the court, New York is never seriously competitive so it doesn’t really resonate.
Enter the current Bucks-Pacers burgeoning discontent.
Can we really consider this a crazy beef when Milwaukee lost four of five to Indiana and held the Pacers to no less than 122 points in a game? The only time the Deer were successful, they needed 64 points from Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Sure, sure, the hype around the ball plays into it, but damn, Tyrese Haliburton turns into the second coming of Jesus every time he faces the Bucks backcourt, averaging 27, 11 and 6. He has 55 assists for 7 turnovers. in these games and operates with impunity against Damian Lillard, Malik Beasley and Co.
There is a clear difference between this rivalry and other one-sided rivalries: it is the “underdog” who dictates things. For Milwaukee, it’s reminiscent of the brain block Dirk Nowitzki’s Mavs had against the We Believe Warriors. The Bucks are 23-6 against the rest of the league and haven’t been beaten twice by anyone other than Indiana.
The Pacers totaled 142, 122, 126, 128 and 126 for an average of 128.8 per outing. This iteration of the Bucks is giving up 119 points per game, good for 24th in the championship, so they haven’t really been a defensive juggernaut in the other 29 games. It’s just that whatever approach is taken to the Pacers, Rick Carlisle and Haliburton go through it like paper mache.
After Wednesday’s 142-130 loss, his second in a row against Indiana, Antetokounmpo admitted he sees navy blue and gold in his nightmares.
“I think we realize as a team that there are teams that can beat us four times in a season. Now that you have that, you think about it – when you go home, when you sleep, when you wake up, you think about it. Now when you go back to practice, you think about it.
“At the All-Star Break, when you are on an exciting beach with your family, I hope you will think about it. When you’re about to get weird at night, you think about it.
I’m not sure about the latter. Seems like that would be a more useful thought for later in the – whatever.
Despite the admission also being a cardinal sin against Adam Silver, Lillard said the Bucks were actually trying.
“I think what’s embarrassing is we’re so much better than we showed in the games against them,” Lillard said. “I also don’t look at it like, ‘Oh, it’s just the regular season.’ We wanted to win these games.
Listen guys, I love the franchise, but these moments of clarity boost the Pacers’ confidence in a potential playoff run, as the two clubs won’t meet again this season. There’s currently a logjam for spots four through eight in the East, with Indiana squarely in that fray at 19-14.
Milwaukee is unlikely to fall out of the top three given how they have played against the other 30 teams, so a Bucks-Pacers series is possible. If this is another knockout in Indiana’s favor, it won’t constitute a rivalry; the two teams will simply have “a history”.
