How the Pacers too often collapsed in Game 3 collapse against Bucks

On the double whammy that was double teaming

By: Caitlin Cooper I @C2_Cooper

In what was a 117-101 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks, the Pacers collapsed in more ways than one, surrendering a 12-point lead in less than four minutes as they made a series of defensive errors to start the third quarter that saw them too often collapsing on the ball.

Without further ado, here's a look at what led to, and resulted from, both meanings of the word "collapse" as it pertains to Game 3, with an eye on whether the Pacers can avoid further collapsing in the series headed into Game 4.

Unnecessary double teams

Andrew Nembhard is arguably the highest feel defender on the team and can generally be relied on to call audibles, but this is a play he didn't need to make as the team's defensive playmaker.

Put simply, if Brook Lopez makes a hook shot turning over his left shoulder against Myles Turner as a like-sized defender, then Brook Lopez makes a hook shot turning over his left shoulder against Myles Turner as a like-sized defender.

In fact, it might even be preferable if Brook Lopez makes a few hook shots turning over his left shoulder against Myles Turner as a like-sized defender; because, maybe, that would give the Bucks reason to play him more rather than downsizing with the lineups that have given the Pacers more trouble. Alright, so, that might be a bit galaxy-brained (stops should be the goal!), but the general premise still applies. Nembhard deserved heaps of praise for his off-ball defense, anticipating passing reads from Giannis Antetokounmpo in Game 1, but the geometry of the floor has changed with Damian Lillard and Gary Trent Jr. now both in Milwaukee's starting lineup, whirling around the perimeter. If the Pacers were going to double in that situation, even with a center guarding a center, then the help needed to come from the top, per usual, with Aaron Nesmith then rotating to Antetokounmpo one pass away, rather than losing track of shooters and/or cutters on the weak-side.

In addition to being contrary to Indiana's normal scheme around post-ups, it's telling of Milwaukee's lineup change that Haliburton stays anchored to Lillard in the corner even as his man, Gary Trent Jr., lifts to the top of the key.

Remember, in Game 2, Haliburton made an impact on both sides of the ball, in part, because he was cheating from Taurean Prince, who (likely for those and other reasons) played less than five minutes in this game. Needless to say, it wasn't quite as easy for Haliburton to play cornerback when he had to split the difference between Lillard and Trent on the weak-side.

Still, if the Pacers were going to double Antetokounmpo on the bully drive, even with Pascal Siakam guarding him, then Nesmith needed to be in scramble mode on the flight of the kick-out pass. Otherwise, that extra split-second was all Trent needed to morph into Ray Allen, as the sharpshooter would eventually go on to tie the former Bucks great's franchise record for threes made in a game with nine.

Meanwhile, even after Milwaukee had tied the game, the double trouble also manifested on the pesky inverted screening actions for Antetokounmpo with AJ Green. Quite frankly, there is no reason to double Antetokounmpo this far from the basket, let alone this early in the shot-clock.

Then again, given what some of the prior breakdowns were against that action in Game 2, the Pacers likely (probably?) didn't intend to. In each case, the screener defender, who is typically either Haliburton or T.J. McConnell has approached as though they are about to do a quick show so as not to give up the mismatch.

The only problem is, they've often either over-committed themselves or not called out the coverage early and loud enough for the on-ball defender to avoid giving up a screen rejection. In the above example, there's not even a screen. Green just sort of meandered in the paint before leaking out to the perimeter. So, Haliburton should preferably abide by the "no screen, no scheme" mantra and just run with him, rather than jumping out above the level of the non-screen, thereby putting the defense into rotation.

Party Crashers

In addition to all of those unnecessary collapses on defense that contributed to the overall (capital "C") Collapse, there was also somewhat of a collapse in both intention and urgency -- at least by comparison to Milwaukee.

To that point, even when the Bucks weren't making shots, they were more active on the glass. During the regular season, Milwaukee only averaged 21.6 possessions per game with at least two offensive players crashing, which ranked last in the league. That number shot up to 28.0 in Game 3, as the Bucks could more often be seen pursuing second chances while also sapping some of the pace from the (Pace)rs.

Generally speaking, offensive rebounding and transition defense are often thought to be at odds with each other. As in, teams can either be good at one or the other, but not both. After all, crashing comes with the risk of leak-outs, right? Well, for the Pacers, attacking their weakness as a rebounding team can at times limit their strength as a running team, as they are forced to hang around in the paint rather than sprinting for high seals. In that way, between the Bucks sending more bodies to the glass and racking up 39 points in the frame, Indiana was held to only four fast-break points during the third quarter of woe. Put simply, they held themselves back to a degree by not holding off the Bucks.

Left of center

Of course, the Bucks also deserve some credit for holding them off as well, which is why some of the unnecessary double teams and other defensive errors were a double whammy. Gary Trent Jr.'s insertion into the starting lineup didn't just change Haliburton's role on defense, he also changed the game for Haliburton as an initiator, reenacting the familiar tactic of making every effort to keep him on the left side of the floor.

When Haliburton attempted to counter for the exaggerated coverage, as the Pacers often do, by throwing the ball ahead to get it back, a surprisingly spry version of Lillard jumped out to maintain the same dividing line.

To be fair, Turner ended up drawing a bailout foul driving against Lopez, but the overall possession was reminiscent of the early-season games against Orlando, in which head coach Jamahl Mosley could be heard barking out orders to "keep him there," with regard to cornering Haliburton to his left.

Turner had a rough game overall, but the simplest counter to regain access to the middle of the floor in that scenario would be to run two-man game with him for Haliburton to flow into a pop-and-get. If Haliburton throws the ball to Turner at the elbow-area extended for the pop, he should be able to get over the top and into the middle of the defense with a hand-off against Lopez in soft coverage. If the defense blitzes or switches, then opportunities should open up inside for Turner.

That said, they also could've just been better at executing the counters they already have for Haliburton that start with him away from the ball. Normally, when Haliburton is being face-guarded out of this alignment, the play (called "Away Top") is for him to reject the staggered "away" screens from Siakam and Turner to flow into stack pick-and-roll, with him as the stack screener in the lane.

Instead, Siakam turned around as the first screener to fly off the second screen for the pass from Nembhard, which the Bucks readily switched and denied.

Notably, Nembhard missed the pass to a cutting Turner, as he ended up caught on his heels, much like the team as a whole in a figurative sense. After logging a paint touch on 63.5 percent of their possessions in the first half, that number dwindled to just 50.0 percent in the third quarter, compared to 62.5 percent for Milwaukee.

There were just too many disjointed possessions as a result of that coverage, as well as their own delayed response to the coverage. In the first half, Indiana's average elapsed time to their first action was a breakneck 5.655 seconds -- faster than their regular season mark of 6.061 seconds, which ranked second in the league. During the third quarter, they registered slower than their regular-season average, at 6.105 seconds. Some of that drop-off, in combination with heightened pressure against Haliburton, might also be attributable to certain lineup combinations, though.

As was covered in the preview of this series as well as several video pods since, there was reason to think that Ben Sheppard would have a place in this match-up at some point. When Lillard returned to action in Game 2, Nembhard had to reenter the game earlier than usual in the second half during the minutes when T.J. McConnell and Bennedict Mathurin were on the floor because neither of them has exactly been sticky with their containment of Kevin Porter Jr. at the point of attack -- a problem which is compounded when Lillard is also playing as part of a two-guard tandem.

In the first half of Game 3, when Siakam went to the bench, Nembhard was trying not to pick up his third foul. The next logical option to guard Lillard and/or Porter Jr. in that scenario, given the results of the prior game, was to try Sheppard, who at just 14.11 percent, allows the lowest blowby rate on the team.

He missed some open shots, but he did what Ben Sheppard does and the Pacers ended up winning his minutes. Similar to what was written here about the potential need for Jarace Walker in this match-up, it certainly won't be Sheppard's fault if the Pacers don't advance in the playoffs, but he could be a contributing factor as to why they do. In a lot of respects, this isn't a plug-and-play roster. They need everybody, at different times and for different reasons. That said, reshuffling the rotation resulted in some rare lineup combinations in which Haliburton was the only ball handler in action. Last season during the playoffs, the Pacers only played a total of eight minutes with Haliburton on the floor without either McConnell or Nembhard.

To understand why, look at this possession from late in third quarter, after they had given up their 12-point lead. This is their "motion" zone buster, which they will also occasionally whip out against man coverage, as can be seen here.

When Haliburton gives the ball to Sheppard at the right wing and cuts through to the opposite side (with Sheppard following behind), he's supposed to receive the pass from Bennedict Mathurin to flow into angled pick-and-roll with Thomas Bryant. Unfortunately, with Kevin Porter Jr. draped all over Haliburton, the pass was never completed for him to jump-start the offense, which means Mathurin had to put the initial bend in the defense.

Like what happened at the other end of the floor immediately thereafter, when Antetokounmpo steamrolled past Mathurin for a straight-line drive leading to easy points for Bobby Portis at the rim, that possession with Mathurin being overtaxed in the absence of another primary ball-handler obviously didn't end well -- which likely contributed to why his night eventually ended sooner than usual.

Even so, while there was certainly reason to think that the Pacers looked broken during the third quarter, as they got outscored 39-18, there's also reason to think that, in moving forward, they aren't necessarily broken beyond repair. Whether leaning on the impact that Haliburton learned to make with impact as a screener during the regular season or insuring that another primary ball-handler is on the floor with him at all times, there are some simple fixes they can try, which include kick-starting the offense by not kicking themselves on defense.

In addition to changing the geometry of the floor for the Pacers with Gary Trent Jr.'s insertion into the starting lineup, the Bucks were the aggressors coming out of halftime. In Game 4, the Pacers can't exacerbate that geometry by falling into sink holes while also demonstrating a sink in their own energy and attention to detail.

Indiana's defensive mistakes at the start of the third quarter are what led to their letdown in Game 3. Just as there was a way to circumvent those mistakes that contributed to the dividing line that was erected -- and also could've been circumvented -- on the left side of the floor on offense, there's also a way for the start of the third quarter not to become the dividing line, pointing to an overall collapse, in the series. In that regard, it's harder to get cornered and easier to run with forward momentum, when there's no longer need, by virtue of too often collapsing, to keep running in circles.