The Indiana Pacers drilled the Atlanta Hawks on Sunday to secure their spot in the playoffs. They will not have to deal with the play-in because of their win. When they won, they didn't know what seed they were going to be. Now, we know what matchup they will have in the first round.
Indiana finishes the regular season as the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference. The Pacers had a shot to get the fifth seed but weren't able to do it because the Magic won. Instead, they will be sixth. They will renew a rivalry with their first-round opponent in the playoffs.
The Pacers will be playing the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round. The Bucks fell down to the third seed in the East while the Knicks moved up to the two seed. While the Pacers won't have the best player in the series, they have fared well against the Bucks this season.
The Indiana Pacers have owned the Bucks this season
So far this season, the Pacers have owned the Bucks. They have won four out of the five matchups with the Bucks, including in the In-Season Tournament. Milwaukee was not happy with the results of the games this season and made it known through the media.
This is a burgeoning rivalry between these two teams. This will be the first playoff matchup between these two in a while. The last time these two franchises played in the playoffs against each other was the same year the Pacers made the NBA Finals.
This could end up being one of the best rivalries in the NBA. These two teams don't like each other. There was the Pacers beating the Bucks in Vegas in the In-Season Tournament Semifinals. There was also ball-gate where Giannis lost his mind about not getting the game-ball, despite a member of the Bucks coaching staff getting him the proper ball.
The good news is that this series likely won't be relegated to NBA TV. With Giannis being a superstar, the NBA is going to want to showcase him as much as possible. The Pacers and the Bucks kind of hate each other, so it's going to be a fun first-round series.