The Indiana Pacers could not overcome a hyped-up Milwaukee team that was eager to start off on the right foot in their new arena.
The Milwaukee Bucks got some extra help from a playoff-type atmosphere thanks to an electric crowd that was excited to see their squad defend home court for the first time in the brand new Fiserv Forum. The Indiana Pacers got buried under a barrage of bombs from deep, as the Bucks knocked down 17 of their 47 attempted three-point shots.
In comparison, the Pacers were only able to hit 6 of 18 shots from deep and also struggled to take care of the ball or hit from the mid-range. A dominant first half from arguably the best player in the Eastern Conference, Giannis Antetokounmpo, also helped Milwaukee build a comfortable lead that the Pacers were just never able to come back from.
The Good: The Pacers got to test out the interesting Turner/Sabonis combination that everyone has been anxious to get a look at all summer long. It looked promising in the limited action we saw from it. Some role guys, like McDermott and Collison, were able to improve on their opening night performances, and Myles Turner came out firing on offense.
The Bad: Turnovers in the first half put the Pacers in a hole early on. The game was close when the turnovers got out of control, so if Indy could’ve been more protective of the ball, this game could have unfolded a bit differently. Bogdanovic and Young weren’t able to add too much production compared to the other starters.
MVP: The Greek Freak, Giannis Antetokounmpo, earns this title today. His 22 points and 11 rebounds in the first half established the tone for the rest of the game. He was held to 4 points and 4 rebounds in the second half, but at that point, the Bucks didn’t need anything more out of him.
LVP: Bojan Bogdanovic did not hit a single shot from the field, going 0-7. If Bojan isn’t making shots, he typically doesn’t add tons of value in any other areas to make up for it.
X-Factor: The three-point line. The Bucks took advantage of opportunities from deep while the Pacers were unable to create anything behind the arc.
The Pacers’ next game in Saturday night at home against the Brooklyn Nets, who will also be on the second half of a back-to-back. The Pacers will look to close out week 1 of the season with a strong performance.