Hot Hands - How the Pacers caught fire to take 3-1 lead

Turns out, the three-point line is a powerful deodorant 

By: Caitlin Cooper I @C2_Cooper

With the Bucks down but not yet out, the Pacers returned to a familiar strategy: banking on their ability to cash-in more threes than their opponent while likewise limiting three-point attempts on defense. At one end of the floor, Milwaukee attempted to a create a no-fly zone in the paint, doubling on the catch against Pascal Siakam and alternating between drop coverage and bouts of zone, en route to ultimately getting more than they bargained for on a night when the Pacers shot 22-of-43 from three. At the other end of the floor, meanwhile, Indiana opted to stay home on shooters, allowing the Bucks to shoot 74.2 percent on twos in the first half, as Indiana applied full-court pressure and willingly surrendered post mismatches in favor of outgunning and outlasting a depleted Meh-waulkee team. To be fair, there was also a fair amount of "meh" on the Pacers side as well, given that the convincing way in which various performers have stepped in to fill the very literal voids of coverage have also been met by spurts of unconvincing defense which can't all be chalked up to merely prioritizing math.

For an in-depth discussion on what led to the incredible shot-making from the Pacers as well as how these types of outings might potentially translate to the next round (assuming there is a next round), Samson Folk returns to share his thoughts on a team that is suddenly one win away from winning a first-round series for the first time since 2014.

Here are the relevant timestamps:

0:00 - Introductions

3:13 - To three or not to three? That is the defense's question.

6:12 - Pascal Siakam applying full-court pressure

7:57 - Defending post mismatches with single coverage

16:57 - Applications to Minnesota in filtering the ball out of the post to the weak-side

20:30 - Milwaukee's change in approach to double Siakam

21:39 - How has the spacing changed for Siakam with the Pacers?

25:45 - Myles Turner's incredible shot-making

30:15 - technical difficulties with showing emotion + Pokemon thoughts (naturally)

37:07 - Tyrese Haliburton's improvement as an off-ball cog

42:07 - Obi Toppin as the bellwether for hot girl basketball

43:46 - Battle of the small-ball lineups

55:57 - Looking ahead to the second round (or playing a healthier Bucks team)

1:03:38 - Around the Association

1:06:30 - Thank you and Goodbye