Indiana Pacers crushed in first half in Game 1 loss to Milwaukee Bucks

MILWAUKEE — The Indiana Pacers kicked off their 2024 postseason on Sunday night as they played Game 1 in Milwaukee against the Bucks. It was the first game of playoff action for many Pacers players, who were hoping to shake their inexperience against the 2021 NBA Champions.

Former MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo was out for the Bucks, which gave the Pacers an enhanced opportunity to grab a victory early in the series. He terrorized Indiana during the regular season. Without him, Damian Lillard was going to be a much more important figure for the Bucks.

Early in the game, both teams were struggling to get in gear. Pascal Siakam and Khris Middleton scored early, but both teams only had two points after 2.5 minutes of play. There were some ugly possessions in the opening minutes.

That style of game remained for the next stretch. Defense was the dominant theme early as both groups missed decent looks and locked in to the details. The score remained tied for the first four minutes of play.

Lillard found a way to create separation. He knocked down three foul shots before hitting a three pointer a few possessions later, and Milwaukee was ahead 12-8 at the time. Lillard alone had eight points, matching Indiana's total. They couldn't slow him down.

Instead, Indiana battled back with some offense. They got enough stops at the time to play in transition, and a hit ahead pass to Siakam led to a layup. The score was 14-13 after the basket. The Pacers survived Lillard's earliest successes.

But the star guard surged again, and he still had as many points as the Pacers with 3:18 to go in the first period. At the time, it was 19-15 Milwaukee, and Lillard alone had 15 of those points. The blue and gold needed to find a way to slow him down — he was involved in nearly every Bucks action.

Indiana, in large part thanks to their second unit, cut the lead down to one at 20-19, but Milwaukee answered with two quick outside shots and a free throw to balloon their lead to seven. The Pacers were struggling to keep up with the Bucks early.

After one period, the Bucks were ahead 30-21. Indiana was 0/9 from deep in the first quarter while the Bucks were 5/13. Lillard's 19 points in the first frame — in which he played all 12 minutes — were the story at the time.

The second quarter started with Lillard on the bench. Indiana needed to dominate the stretch with him resting if they were going to get back into this game. They had four bench players on the court to open the frame — a group that was great in the regular season.

This is the playoffs, though, and that lineup was crushed by the Bucks even with Lillard on the bench. Milwaukee started the period on an 8-2 run without their star guard on the floor, and their edge reached 15 at the time. That led to a timeout from the Pacers. They needed to regroup.

The stoppage didn't help them. The hosts continued to roll as their lead climbed up to 19 with 8:18 to go in the half, and the Pacers took another timeout. Milwaukee was on a 22-4 run, and Indiana was 0/10 from deep and had seven turnovers at the time. It was an ugly game from the visitors.

This time, a break was a little more helpful for the blue and gold. They scored on consecutive possessions at that moment for the first time in ages. But Lillard checked in with his team up by 20, meaning the Bucks outscored the Pacers by 11 with him on the bench. It was a brutal stretch for Indiana.

It hardly slowed down as the half wound down. With 3:24 to go in the second period, Milwaukee took a 56-29 lead. They were crushing Indiana in every aspect of the game. It didn't look anything like the five regular season games the two teams played, and the Bucks doubled up the Pacers on their next possession.

The half ended with more Bucks dominance. It was 69-42 at the break, with Lillard having 35 points by himself. Siakam had 19 points for the Pacers, but nobody else met the moment. Indiana was 3/18 from deep at the break and had seven turnovers.

To get the second half going, the Pacers offense looked much better. They cut Milwaukee's lead down to 19 in the first few minutes of the third period as they finally settled in and added more pace to their game. But they still had a ton of work to do if they wanted to make this duel competitive. The Bucks were still crushing them.

With 7:20 to go in the third period, Lillard and Andrew Nembhard got into a chippy interaction, and both players were assessed technical fouls. Indiana was still down 19 at 75-56, and the Bucks had just taken a timeout.

Indiana's tempo looked better in the second half, and their two-man actions with Siakam and Tyrese Haliburton were more effective. That ignited better play. But they needed to sustain it for the final 17 minutes of action. They were still down roughly 20 points.

They quickly trimmed that number to 14 with just over two minutes left in the third frame. While it still felt like the Bucks had full control of the game, the Pacers were playing much better and had done well to cut into Milwaukee's advantage. The Bucks needed to stabilize.

Instead, the blue and gold scored again before the period ended. It was 83-71 heading into the final quarter — the Pacers won the third quarter 29-14. Lillard did not score in the frame. Indiana had a chance, but they needed to keep up their good play on both ends if they were going to complete the comeback.

The final quarter started with six quick points from the home team. Indiana scored on the other end after both baskets, but they needed to get some stops if they were going to get back into the game. Their defense wasn't cutting it.

It continued to struggle, even with Lillard on the bench. Milwaukee generated several wide open threes, and they made most of them early in the fourth period. It was 97-77 after just a few minutes of action in the quarter, which led to another timeout from the Pacers.

It didn't help. The Bucks kept surging, and they were ahead by 22 with 6:20 to go in the game. Outside of a perfect final six minutes from the Pacers, this one would be a loss for the Pacers. The arena was engaged in the action and the Bucks hit 100 points soon after.

Indiana cut the lead to 14 at 102-88 with 3:22 to go, but it looked like too little, too late. They dug too big of a hole in the first half to complete a comeback. Even with better play for much of the second half, they weren't going to pull it off.

With two minutes to go, the Bucks were ahead by 17. They were about to roll to a victory — they just needed to run out the clock. Their dominant first half was the difference.

The final score was 109-94. The Bucks now lead the series 1-0 after a crushing win. They looked more experienced and more prepared in the win.

Lillard finished with 35 points, which all came in the first half. Siakam had 36 points and 14 rebounds. Middleton had 23 points and 10 rebounds.

Game 2 is on Tuesday in Milwaukee.

• Pascal Siakam is the key to the Indiana Pacers playoff success both on and off the court. CLICK HERE.
• Indiana Pacers young players hoping inexperience isn't a factor in the playoffs: 'I haven't felt much pressure'. CLICK HERE.
• Indiana Fever rookie Caitlin Clark meets Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton, gets praise from Rick Carlisle. CLICK HERE.
• Myles Turner steps up and leads Indiana Pacers over Atlanta Hawks the way he said he would. CLICK HERE.
• Follow AllPacers on Facebook: All Pacers SI
• Follow AllPacers on Twitter: @SIPacers