3 Positives, 1 negative from Pacers thrilling last-minute win vs. Bucks

Man, that was a great showing. Following two wins in a row, the Indiana Pacers and their new city uniforms welcomed the Milwaukee Bucks to town, led by the one and only Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Before we get started, this was not the typical Antetokounmpo we are known to see, as The Greek Freak came into Thursday's matchup angry and looking for a point to prove after getting ejected on a bogus call in the Bucks' last game against Detroit.

As such, the Bucks knew they would have a problem on their hands with the already tough-to-guard Antetokounmpo having an extra layer of anger going into this game due to how the last one ended.

One positive for the Pacers? The Bucks came into this matchup short-handed, as Damian Lillard was listed out prior to the game due to calf soreness. While the Pacers would come into the game with a clean bill of health, that would quickly change, as backup center Jalen Smith would be ruled out shortly into the game with back soreness.

Nonetheless, the Pacers pressed forward and surprised Milwaukee from the jump, building up an early 18-point lead in the first quarter before Giannis Antetokounmpo's brilliance caught up to them, and Milwaukee started to take back control. In the end, however, despite a brilliant 54 points from The Greek Freak, the Pacers held strong and came away with the win 124-126 due to some late-game heroics we will talk about later.

This was perhaps the best Pacers game of the year, as they took control early on, but the Bucks came back and made it a very competitive game behind the performance of Giannis and 19 points from a recovering Khris Middleton before the Pacers pulled away in the final seconds and ultimately came away with the win. There were plenty of things that stood out from this game, so let's get into them.

Positive: Scoring barrage continues

If you were wondering before tonight if the Bucks were finally going to be the team to slow down Indiana's scorching-hot offense, you would be wrong. As usual, Indiana did what they have done best this season: Put the ball in the basket.

Against Milwaukee, the Pacers had six players in double figures, marking the sixth time the Pacers have had 6+ players in double-figures. Of these players, three scored over 20 points, with this being the third time this season the Pacers have had three players scoring 20+ points.

Indiana got scoring contributions from everyone, as all 10 players that got playing time contributed on the scoreboard in some way, with Daniel Theis even getting a bucket in his first game of the season amidst trade rumors.

Throughout the season so far, Indiana has prided itself on team basketball, which was very evident against Milwaukee, with the team racking up 27 assists compared to the Bucks' 23. In addition to this, the Pacers also shot better from deep than the Bucks, sinking 20 threes on 42% compared to the Bucks' nine threes on 33.3%.

This checks out with what Indiana has been going for this season, with the Bucks still ranking at the top of the league in points per game, assists per game, and even three-pointers made per game, a shocker for Pacers fans who remember the slow-paced mid-range ball of the Nate McMillan era.

Team ball has been the motto for the Pacers ever since they stepped on the floor on opening night against the Wizards. This 126-point effort against Milwaukee was the seventh time out of nine games where the Pacers scored over 120 points, with the team currently averaging a sensational 126 points per game, a good amount above second-place Atlanta with 121.8 points per game.

Speaking of big scoring nights...

Positive: Tyrese Haliburton takes over yet again

Tyrese Haliburton has gotten the scoring bug as of late, and that spells trouble for any team facing the Pacers. After being labeled as passive at times in previous years, Haliburton has come out of the gates this year much more aggressive scoring the ball, and that includes his performance tonight.

Haliburton led the team in scoring with 29 points and still dished out 10 assists as well. This performance was his fifth 25/10 game with at least five three-pointers made, while the rest of the Pacers franchise just has four.

While his performance was great throughout, Haliburton still saved his best for last, scoring 10 points in the fourth quarter on 4/5 shooting and making two three-pointers, one of which gave the Pacers the lead for good near the end of the game, adding on to Haliburton's already extensive list of clutch shots hit in a Pacers uniform this early.

This performance has to come as a welcome change for Haliburton, who only scored 16 points in Wednesday's win over the Jazz, including a scoreless first half. For me, what stands out with Haliburton's scoring is more than just his career-high 23.6 points per game.

What stands out to me is how quickly he can take over a game with his scoring. Coming into the league as a primary playmaker who can score when called upon, Haliburton has transformed into a fantastic number-one option for a potential playoff team that can put games away by himself.

A lot of primary playmakers don't have the ability to take over a game with their scoring, but Tyrese Haliburton is clearly not one of them.

In fact, if Haliburton really wanted to flex his scoring muscle, I believe it would be very possible for him to average 25 points this season while still maintaining 10+ assists. After all, this is the same guy who scored 43 points not too long ago to almost single-handedly carry the Pacers to a win against Charlotte, a game which they ultimately lost and one where fumbled the ball on the last possession. However, it seems like Haliburton has redeemed himself for that mistake, as he wasted no time putting the game away against Milwaukee.

Positive: Bennedict Mathurin returns to form

After five lackluster scoring performances in a row, Bennedict Mathurin has started to get back in his groove, and it's been wonderful to see. After what Rick Carlisle deemed his best game in the past two years, Mathurin followed a 22-point, nine-rebound performance with an even better 26-point, 11-rebound game against Milwaukee, in which he looked even more comfortable shooting the ball from everywhere, sinking three of seven three-pointers and making it look easy in the process.

This has to feel great for the second-year Mathurin, who, prior to these two games, was averaging just 11 points on atrocious shooting splits while getting just under 10 shots per game despite starting. While Mathurin did show improvements in his playmaking during this cold stretch, it was not expected to come at such a big cost, that being his scoring falling off a cliff.

Recently, however, Mathurin has seemed to find the perfect balance between scoring and distributing the ball. While he only finished with two assists on the night, he was still making all the right reads and getting his teammates involved at any time.

This was not to say he was disregarding himself, though, as Mathurin had some fantastic plays off the iso that were reminiscent of his rookie days, including a fantastic play where he lost Cameron Payne on defense and finished strong with the dunk.

In addition to his terrific scoring, Mathurin showed some amazing defensive prowess, being the main defender on Giannis Antetokounmpo as he went scoreless in the final five minutes of the game and doing everything in his power to keep the five-inch taller Antetokounmpo at bay.

In a game decided by just a few possessions, Mathurin kept the Bucks' best player at bay during the most important stretch of the game and played a huge part in helping Indiana win those possessions.

This has to feel great for Mathurin, who was struggling on defense to start the regular season despite showing improvements in preseason. With the Jazz game and now an amazing performance against the Bucks under his belt, including some stellar defense on a two-time MVP having the game of his life, it can't be understated how much Mathurin's confidence has increased as of late, and the Pacers are better with that being the case.

Following the loss to the Hornets, some talks began to sizzle around the fanbase of potentially trading Mathurin for a second star to pair alongside Haliburton. However, what fans don't know is when Bennedict Mathurin is on his game, he is the perfect second star to pair alongside Haliburton.

Negative: Letting the Bucks get back in it early

There is no reason this game should have been won by only two points.

For the past few years, the Indiana Pacers have had a habit of building big leads against teams, typically in the first half, only to watch those leads evaporate right in front of them as they sit idly by and do nothing.

This exact case happened in the Bucks game, as Indiana built as much as an 18-point lead in the first quarter, went into the second quarter up 16, and watched Milwaukee slowly crawl back as their defense had no answer for Giannis, Middleton, and company.

No matter how good or bad a team is, there should be no reason why a basketball team turns an 18-point lead into a 10-point deficit. While I may be grasping at straws here since the Pacers would go on to win, I have said before that this could lead to disaster soon if they don't try to keep this major issue at bay.

Going back to the Cleveland game in the In-Season Tournament, Indiana had a similar scenario, as they built as big as an 18-point lead going into the third quarter, only to watch Cleveland make that lead vanish in the blink of an eye as the Pacers tried to play catch-up ball the rest of the way.

Eventually, they got the win, but the point still stands. You cannot let a team come back from a double-digit lead. As we saw against Milwaukee, the Pacers have an awful habit of turning a double-digit lead for them into a double-digit lead for the opposing team.

Luckily, Tyrese Haliburton and Bennedict Mathurin had other plans for the night and willed the Pacers to victory in the closing minutes, but the team still has to be careful from now on. Blowing large leads is not a sustainable practice in today's NBA, especially in the playoffs, which the Pacers are trying to make this year.