Tyrese Haliburton's heroics steal Game 5 and the series

Wow.

By: Samson Folk I @samfolkk

One of the worst quarters of basketball I have ever had the displeasure of watching. The Bucks elected to start their good and successful lineup of Giannis-KPJ-Green-Portis-GTJ and switched everything out above the break. The Pacers response to this, initially, was to saunter and meander above the break with very little purpose. To shy away from the ball pressure by backing up. Scared. 

I hate to put on my youth basketball coach hat, but when someone is jumping your dribble, it means it’s easier to clear their hips as a driver. Or how about the post mismatches? The defense is bumped out higher above the break, that means help is farther away! Siakam got ONE post touch, which led to a double and a wide open triple. The Pacers went wide, when they should’ve gone direct. They picked up their dribbles early and threw the ball away, triggering massive opportunities in transition for the Bucks. 

The Pacers, really, were more or less fine guarding in the halfcourt. Outside of the inexplicable space given to AJ Green to hit jumpers – once again, in this series – the Pacers did a decent enough job of keeping the ball in front. They unfortunately got slammed in the shooting variation aspect, as the Bucks got some high-level shotmaking and the Pacers got… no shotmaking. However, those types of swings are survivable if you’re competent elsewhere. 

I don’t really get emotional watching basketball, but I was actually quite frustrated watching the opening frame. Horrific. Pathetic. Inexcusable. The Bucks led by 17 after the first quarter wrapped up. After the first minute of the second quarter was done, they led by 20. I watched TJ McConnell and Bennedict Mathurin both look at Trent Jr. and walk away from him, leaving him wide open to shoot the ball. I have seen this team look off about 7 dead to rights Pascal Siakam mismatch post ups - although, need to see some of those spot up threes drop in, some shotmaking of any sort, from the Pacers star.

Gross. Gross. Gross basketball. I need to take a walk. 

Anyway… onto the rest. 

I have to thank Aaron Nesmith, in particular, for reinvigorating my faith in basketball. A corner grenade triple, and a couple hardhat drives were the biggest motivators for why the Pacers were able to climb back into the game in the second quarter. At the half, they were down by 6, and I don’t even think the defense improved, just that the Pacers stopped granting them transition possessions. They got more opportunities to set up their halfcourt defense, and that meant they found success. One guaranteed way to set up your defense? SCORE THE BALL. And while other players got to the rim a couple times, when wide gaps were available to punch through, I thought Nesmith was the most resilient driver of the bunch - and he brought it as a shooter.

I will also highlight and give credit to Haliburton for one closeout in particular on Green. Jump stopped at his hip with the hand extended, stayed on his hip when he tried to side step, and forced the ball to move on. If everyone could manage this closeout on Green, everytime, he would be a lot less potent on the court. Also, the Green flat screens for Antetokounmpo were still a problem. Sigh.  

All in all. A 6-point deficit at half is a perfectly comfortable place to be. Ohmydays it put some grey hairs on my bald head to get it there, though.

Second half starts. Two Nembhard triples, including a step back into a 30-footer, and the Pacers had the lead at 52-51. Big time players, big time plays. Both teams traded haymaker triples, with a little bit of driving mixed in. A huge run from the Pacers was answered with a 9-2 run from the Bucks. 

Note: At this point, have to start looking at Siakam to establish himself more often. It’s true that the Pacers had blinders on a bit with him, but there’s far too much passivity, and more opportunity to impact the game as a rebounder, cutter, and maybe most importantly as a low man in the defense. 

The offensive glass remained a problem, and the Bucks survived the upswing in shot making from the Pacers with it. Most everything the Bucks tried, the Pacers could keep a decent lid on. A good indicator as the game headed towards its close. The teams were tied heading into the final frame. 

A veer into a middy for Nesmith, and a reverse layup from McConnell opened the 4th quarter and put the Pacers up by 4. Their largest lead of the night. The McConnell of it all continued, by the way. For a game that started as terribly as it did for the Pacers, McConnell exhibited heaps and heaps of gumption to turn the corner and create downhill to keep his squad churning forward.

Sure, when the Pacers are gliding to 120 points, and things are humming, McConnell’s slicing and daring off the bounce middies aren’t great offense. However, in a slug it out, grind it out; ugly, nasty, closeout game - little jumpers can be the stuff of life. The Bucks can simply hand the ball to Giannis Antetokounmpo in early offense to send him careening toward the bucket - there is a certain guarantee for some offensive juice there - and they mined that advantage to the tune of a 4-point lead halfway through the 4th quarter.

A solo six-point run from Siakam and a finger roll in transition from Nesmith (after a marvelous dig from Haliburton on Giannis) allowed the Pacers to take the lead once again. They finally began to look at the Siakam post-up as the halfcourt hack, and it led to a handful of points in quick succession. Whether it was a bucket for Siakam, or a shovel pass to Turner under the bucket - whatever, it was a good offensive process. The Bucks even started to pre-emptively double and shade. The bad part? The Pacers missed a couple open looks, while the Bucks – Trent Jr. and Green, who else – hit back to back triples. One, a bomb from Green. The other, an ill-advised double from Haliburton that freed up Trent Jr. above the break. 

Somehow, at the death of this game, Haliburton went drive for drive with Antetokounmpo to draw even at 103 points. The Haliburton/Siakam screening actions were on the money again and again. The Bucks settled for a Porter Jr. middy over the contest of Siakam, and the Pacers got a wormy, writhing drive from Haliburton that ended with a dunk. 

Tie game. 11 seconds left. Bucks ball. Antetokounmpo took the ball to the wing, went to his baseline fader, and missed. Overtime. 

First bucket of overtime? A Siakam post up that drew too much attention, and saw Haliburton form up around for a triple. 

Now, the rest of the game… I have a hard time describing. It featured two incredible 3-point shots from Nesmith and Nembhard to keep the Pacers in it, as they were trying not to drown under the weight of an insane Trent Jr. flood from downtown – and yes, he got loose off of the “not actually a screen, screen” that Caitlin and I discussed – and my god, two Trent Jr. turnovers in a row set the stage for two drives, back to back, from Haliburton.

Haliburton made an and-one layup after taking Green off the bounce, and made the free throw. 

The game winner? Well, Haliburton used that sweeping left to right cross that he loves so dearly, to clear the hips of Antetokounmpo, and to glide into the lane for a layup that would be the last bucket scored, and would leave the Bucks on their own end line, with 1.3 seconds left and no timeouts. The heave didn’t go. 

Haliburton, whose drives so rarely define his game, used the drive to send the Pacers into overtime, and then to steal the game and the series. 

This game started off with the Pacers completely incapable of touching the paint, but Haliburton made sure to touch it one last time.

Onto round 2. 

Have a blessed day.