With the Pacers’ four games out planned for the NBA CupOne game in particular stands out. The games against the Detroit Pistons and Miami Heat look promising. Indiana will also see action against Pascal Siakam’s former team, the Toronto Raptors.
Their fourth opponent in Group B of the Eastern Conference is a familiar opponent. In fact, the Pacers eliminated them twice last season: once in the season tournament and once in the NBA playoffs.
Despite finishing with the third-best record in the Eastern Conference last year and two games better than the Indiana Pacers, the Milwaukee Bucks failed to overtake the NBA’s best offensive team twice last season.
Indiana is courting one of the league’s best dynamic duos in Siakam and All-Star Tyrese Haliburton. The point guard was a major reason for the team’s success last seasonespecially against their opponents in the Central Division.
On Friday, December 8, 2023, the Pacers defeated the Bucks. The victory propelled them to the final of the season tournament against the Los Angeles Lakers.
At the time, Buddy Hield and Bruce Brown were still with the Pacers. The two scored just 18 points between them. It was Haliburton’s efforts that led Indiana to the promised land, recording 27 points, 15 assists and seven rebounds.
During the regular season, the Pacers had the Bucks’ number. In the other four meetings, Milwaukee won only once.
At the end of the regular season, third place was awarded to the Bucks and sixth to the Pacers. The two teams thus crossed paths again.
This meeting was marked by the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs. In six games, the Pacers took advantage of the key absences of Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard.
Siakam has proven to be a key player in this series, with his first two postseason games with his new team resulting in double-doubles of at least 36 points and 11 rebounds each.
Haliburton has three double-doubles of his own. In fact, he was one point away from third in the road opener against Milwaukee.
The Haliburton-Siakam tandem is doing better than Antetokounmpo-Lillard. The Pacers have seen their season last longer than the Bucks. Indiana has a good chance of shattering Milwaukee’s hopes and confidence when the two teams meet again on Nov. 22.
The Pacers are up for the challenge, and why not? After all, they won four of five games against Milwaukee between November 2023 and March 2024, in addition to four of six in the playoffs last fall. A rivalry is reborn.
