1. First Quarter

With Damian Lillard tearing his achilles in game three, Milwaukee would be forced to throw out a different starting five for the third time this season. Indiana’s starters were Tyrese Haliburton, Andrew Nembhard, Aaron Nesmith, Pascal Siakam, and Myles Turner. As for the Bucks, Giannis Antetokounmpo was the only starter that started in game one. The four other players starting with Giannis were Kevin Porter Jr., Gary Trent Jr., AJ Green, and Bobby Portis. The overhaul for Milwaukee paid off because they jumped ahead 13-0. Indiana’s first basket came when Turner knocked down a three-pointer with 7:32 left in the period. The largest deficit for the Pacers in the period was fifteen points on three different occasions until Jericho Sims caught a pass from Porter Jr. and dunked it with seven seconds left in the quarter. After twelve minutes, Indiana was down 30-13. Giannis recorded 7 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, and a steal in the opening quarter. The Pacers were led by Turner with 5 points. Indiana shot 4/17 from the field and 1/8 from three-point range.

2. Second Quarter

After the first lackluster quarter of the series for the Pacers, they needed to regroup to avoid an insurmountable first half deficit. Milwaukee scored the first basket in the quarter when Kyle Kuzma drilled a triple. The Pacers then started chipping away by scoring eight consecutive points with points from Bennedict Mathurin, Obi Toppin, T.J. McConnell, and Siakam. However, Milwaukee countered with five points to go back ahead by seventeen. Indiana’s raised its defensive intensity, and it sparked its offense. Milwaukee’s lead quickly evaporated as a Turner three with 3:10 left in the half trimmed the Bucks lead to 42-35. The Pacers would hold serve the rest of the quarter and shave another point off the Bucks advantage to trail 47-41 at intermission. Nesmith was a critical piece for the Pacers comeback, scoring 8 points in the quarter. Green was the scoring leader for Milwaukee in the period with 6 points. Indiana was 11/23 in the second quarter, including 3/6 from distance. Green was leading all scorers at halftime with 12 points followed by Nesmith and Turner with 10 points. Giannis was held to single digits, registering 8 points, 7 assists, and 6 rebounds in the first half. One thing that Indiana struggled to do in the first half was taking care of the basketball, as the Pacers turned the ball over eight times.

3. Third Quarter

In games one, two, and four, Indiana was superb to start the second half. Tonight, it will be no different. The Pacers did not possess the lead once in the first half, and with 9:03 left in the quarter, Nembhard hit a thirty-footer to give the team a 52-51 lead. From that point on, it was a tight contest. Indiana’s largest lead in the third quarter was three points when Turner broke a 56-56 tie with 6:15 left in the period with a triple. Milwaukee responded by slowly taking the game back and eventually went back up five points when Giannis converted two free throws with four minutes left in the quarter. Three minutes later, Indiana and Milwaukee were tied sixty seconds left in the quarter when McConnell knocked down a fadeaway jumper along the baseline. Porter Jr. concluded the scoring in the period with two free throws to send the two teams tied at 75 into the fourth quarter. Indiana wad led by Nembhard with 8 points, but Turner and Haliburton each had 7 points as well in the quarter. As for Milwaukee, Giannis got going a little bit in the third with 9 points. Indiana caught fire behind the arc, shooting 5/9 in the period. Heading into the fourth, Turner and Antetokounmpo were tied for the most points in the game with 17.

4. Fourth Quarter

With a few of Indiana’s starters on the bench to start the final quarter, the Pacers would need someone to step up. That player tonight was T.J. McConnell. He started the fourth quarter by scoring six points and assisting on two field goals for the Pacers. Indiana was on top 87-82 because of McConnell’s play with 8:34 left in the game. Milwaukee called a timeout and responded by going on a 12-2 run to take a five-point lead with 5:13 remaining after a Trent Jr. triple. Indiana came back with four points from Siakam and two points from Nesmith to go on top 95-94 with less than four minutes to play. With 1:20 left, Green splashed a three from the top of the arc to extend Milwaukee’s advantage to 101-97. Rick Carlisle called a timeout and drew up a play for Haliburton to score in six seconds. Giannis drove to the basket on the following possession for a floater, but missed the free throw to make it a five-point game. Haliburton drove to the basket and got hacked by Giannis, and converted both of the foul shots to make it 103-101 with 39.8 seconds left. Indiana forced Porter Jr. to take a contested step back jumper, resulting in a brick. The shot clock was off for the Pacers when they got the basketball back down two. Haliburton only used 13 seconds of the game clock to drive to the basket and dunk the basketball to tie it at 103. The final shot of regulation was a miss from Antetokounmpo. In the fourth quarter, Trent Jr. scored 12 points on 4/6 shooting from downtown. Giannis also had 11 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 assists. As for Indiana, Haliburton, Siakam, and McConnell each had 6 points. After four quarters of play, Giannis was leading all players in scoring (28), rebounding (16), and assists (11). Turner paced Indiana in scoring with 21 points and 9 rebounds after forty-eight minutes.

5. Overtime

The overtime period started with how it ended, Haliburton making a shot, but this time it was behind the three-point line. Trent Jr. responded with three straight triples for the Bucks to give them a 112-106 advantage with 1:46 remaining in OT. The Pacers called a timeout after going down six, and drew up a play that got Nesmith a clean look from distance to cut the Milwaukee lead in half. Indiana forced a turnover and then capitalized on it with Nesmith scoring at the rim after Haliburton blew a layup. Things started to look bleak for the Pacers with another three from Trent Jr., followed by another missed three from Haliburton. With 40 seconds left, Indiana trailed Milwaukee 118-111 after Green split two free throws. Nembhard converted a thirty-three-foot three and then he stole a bad pass by Trent Jr. that gave Indiana a chance. Haliburton would capitalize on the turnover by attacking the basket and finishing through the Green contact to make it a 118-117 game after making the free throw to complete the three-point play with 17.1 seconds left. All Milwaukee needed to do was break the Pacers press, they did, but Trent Jr. took his eye off the ball and it went through his hands and out of bounds with 10.8 seconds left. Just like earlier in the season, Haliburton was defended by Giannis with the game on the line, and he would be successful again. He drove by Giannis with a hesitation dribble and finished the layup at the rim with 1.4 seconds remaining. All Milwaukee could do was hope that someone could get lucky and knock down a full court heave, but Trent Jr.’s attempt fell short. Indiana completes the improbable comeback with a 119-118 victory.

6. Top Performers

Tyrese Haliburton (26p, 9a, 5r, 3s, 3b), Myles Turner (21p, 9r), Aaron Nesmith (19p, 12r, 3a), T.J. McConnell (18p, 3r, 3a), Andrew Nembhard (15p, 6a, 6r, 3s), and Pascal Siakam (10p, 4r). For Milwaukee, Gary Trent Jr. (33p, 5r, 2a, 5s), Giannis Antetokounmpo (30p, 20r, 13a, 2s, 2b), AJ Green (19p, 4r), Bobby Portis (14p, 10r), and Kevin Porter Jr. (11p, 7a, 3r). For tonight’s full box score, click here.

7. Notes

• Indiana is 9-2 at home between last playoff run and this year
• Indiana’s 20-point comeback is the largest win in franchise playoff history
  • Milwaukee’s largest blown lead in franchise playoff history
• Indiana’s 7-point comeback with 40 seconds left is the largest comeback in a playoff win since play-by-play data became available in 1996-1997
• Indiana’s 13 points in the first quarter were the fewest points in a first quarter playoff game in franchise history
• Aaron Nesmith recorded his first career playoff double-double
• Gary Trent Jr.’s 33 points are the second most in a playoff game in his career
• Gary Trent Jr.’s 8 threes are the second most in a playoff game in his career
• Giannis Antetokounmpo recorded his 57th career playoff double-double
  • Has recorded a double-double in all five games of the series
• Giannis Antetokounmpo has scored 30+ points in 36 playoff games (84 games)
  • Has scored 30+ points in three of four games this series
• Giannis Antetokounmpo recorded his 4th career playoff triple-double
• Myles Turner recorded his 11th game with 20+ points in a playoff game
• Pascal Siakam’s 10 points are the fewest points in a playoff game as an Indiana Pacer
• Tyrese Haliburton’s 26 points are the third most in a playoff game in his career
• Rick Carlisle improves his coaching record in the playoffs to 35-38

8. Next Up

The Indiana Pacers will take on the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. Game one will be on Sunday, but time is to be announced. In the regular season, Indiana was 3-1 against Cleveland, but two of those games came in the final week of the regular season.