The Indiana Pacers entered their first playoff game against the Milwaukee Bucks with an advantage. Giannis Antetokounmpo was declared out from the main lineup after he developed a left calf strain. Despite this, they had trouble closing the gap after the Bucks established a lead right from the first quarter. Pascal Siakam delivered an impressive performance, but it was still not enough. In the end, the Bucks won Game 1 of 6 by a score of 109-94. During the post-game press conference, Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle discussed what went wrong. Having had a bad start, the coach did not hesitate to place the blame on the team as a whole.

“The first half was, it was embarrassing,” said Carlisle. “No excuses. We simply have to come out better, and it was ugly, and we all own it”. Even as a reporter kept egging him on for more details, Carlisle continued to insist that he would make no excuses about his team’s performance. With Giannis out of the picture, everyone at the Fiserv Forum arena expected Pascal Siakam and Tyrese Haliburton, the leading scorers of the team, to deliver the win to the Pacers.

Siakam came out on top, dropping 36 points, 13 rebounds, and 2 assists during the matchup. However, the same could not be said about Haliburton, who only scored 9 points, 7 rebounds and 8 assists. For someone who was averaging 20.1 points during the regular season, this was one of the player’s most disappointing performances of the tournament. While it was evident that the Pacers weren’t firing on all cylinders, the real question is; who made it work for the Bucks without their Greek Freak?

Damian Lillard covered Giannis Antetokounmpo’s role during the Pacers-Bucks clash

Despite Haliburton’s abysmal performance, the Pacers might still have held a chance toward possessing the win. However, their hope was crushed by a major obstacle bearing the name of Damian Lillard. The point guard took it upon himself to lead the team during this crucial stage. His on-court prowess started to show itself during the first half, by the end of which the Bucks were leading by a score of 69-42. While Haliburton had only added 7 till that point for the Pacers, Lillard was leading the points chart with his 35! He created history with his score, as he became the first player since Kevin Durant in 2019 to produce the highest individual first-half total in a playoff game.

The Pacers were the visiting team, due to which the majority of onlookers at the arena were Bucks fans. Each point and shot made by Lillard sent the crowd into a frenzy that motivated the player further. At one point, amidst the loud cheers, he was filmed mouthing “This is what ya’ll brought me here for” to his supporters.

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Rick Carlisle and the Pacers are aware that Giannis may not be out of the main lineup for long. Given how their recent game went, the coach, Tyrese Haliburton, and all the other players will have to work on their weaknesses before Game 2 commences two days from now.