Pacers put away Bucks with electric team effort, now move on to face Knicks

The Pacers advanced to the Eastern Conference semifinals thanks to a strong effort from the bench, highlighting a full team effort for 48 minutes.

Photo: Bally Sports Indiana

The Pacers beat the Bucks, 120-98 on Thursday night to clinch a 4-2 first-round playoff series win.

They did it.

After a futile effort in Milwaukee to clinch the series in Game 5, the Pacers depth showed out in Game 6 in front of a raucous Fieldhouse crowd, sending the frustrated Bucks packing. While it isn’t always pretty, the Pacers continue to take advantage of opportunities in front of them. First earning the No. 6 seed and now beating a short-handed No. 3 seed to advance to the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Growing along the way and now facing a hostile enemy in the New York Knicks starting on Monday night at Madison Square Garden. Raising the bar on what a successful season looks like.

Beautiful.

The Pacers won each individual quarter against the Bucks, but it was the third quarter finish which flipped the game in favor of the Pacers for good. After taking a 15-point lead midway through the third quarter, the Bucks trimmed the lead to nine points against a reserve rotation that included, Obi Toppin, Andrew Nembhard, Isaiah Jackson, TJ McConnell and Tyrese Haliburton, with 1:55 remaining in the quarter. Having played the full quarter up to that point, Ben Sheppard checked in for Haliburton.

Uh oh. My first thought, as Haliburton exited, leaving a lineup that would be stuck in the half court offensively, was that how the Pacers survived the final 1:55 would determine the game.

The Bucks trimmed two more points of the Pacers’ lead in the first 50 seconds until Pascal Siakam returned for Toppin. From there, the Pacers reeled of an 8-0 run to push that lead back to 15 at the end of the third quarter. Siakam was not the difference, although his presence provided the gravity to free others. In this case, the others were TJ McConnell and Andrew Nembhard who shared the scoring opportunities over the final minute, capped off with a three-point make by McConnell.

Photo: Bally Sports Indiana

After struggling much of the series on the offensive end, McConnell was suddenly playing like he had over the final six weeks of the season, complete with a pair of 3-balls while sending a continuous charge throughout the Fieldhouse.

TJ Macs and his reserve running mate, Toppin were both a -18 when on the floor in Game 5. And that seemed generous.

In Game 6, the duo combined for 41 points playing well over 20 minutes to give the Pacers the productive depth they needed to play a full 48 minutes of winning basketball. That reserve crew wasn’t done at the end of the third quarter either, continuing to extend the lead until a Ben Sheppard three put the Pacers up 20 with 8 minutes to go.

This was happening! The Bucks had no answers. At one point, it seemed Carlisle may just leave the reserve group out there to finish the game which they likely would’ve been able to do. But eventually, the remaining starters returned and sealed the deal until Doc Rivers threw up the white flag by going deep into his bench for the final three minutes.

Damian Lillard returned for the Bucks, admirably playing 35 minutes and scoring 28 points, although his ability to run the floor was hampered without much bounce in his game. Shooting ability, not so much. Regardless, the Bucks eventually tried to muck things up which resulted in an early third quarter dust up that had James Johnson staring Bobby Portis back toward the Bucks bench. Both players earned technical fouls which was well worth it for the Pacers. Just seeing Johnson send Portis retreating a good 20 to 30 feet before he started yelling back when there were others between he and Johnson, was a beautiful.

Then late in the game, Patrick Beverley couldn’t stand not having the attention on himself so threw a fit on the bench which included throwing basketball twice at fans behind the Bucks’ bench. The ultimate disruptor, heckler, needler showed how much he is a guy who can dish it out, but can’t take it. No doubt, Pacers fans had some quality heckling going on throughout the game, which included reports of coach Vin Baker getting nose-to-nose with a fan earlier in the game. But such is life on the road in the NBA.

But now we can forget the Bucks and look toward playing the Knicks. The Pacers won the season series 2-1 but like the first round, these are two different teams.

Can the Pacers play a their preferred pace?

Can the Pacers match the toughness of the Knicks?

Can the Pacers survive against a quality rebounding team like the Knicks?

Can the Pacers make someone other than Jalen Brunson beat them?

Which team will have an advantage shooting from behind the arc?

Extremely tough matchup for the Pacers, particularly if you consider the flaws they showed during the first round. But this young Pacers team is still growing and being thrown into the Garden with higher stakes offers a chance for several individuals to learn and grow as the team tries to do the same while taking a swing at the Knicks and their different style of play.

Pacers vs. Knicks Schedule

• Game 1: Monday, May 6 at New York, 7:30 p.m. ET on TNT

• Game 2: Wednesday, May 8, at New York, 8:00 p.m. ET on TNT

• Game 3: Friday, May 10 at Indiana New York, 7 p.m. ET on ESPN

• Game 4: Sunday, May 12 at Indiana, 3:30 p.m. ET on ABC