Can Bucks Find Redemption in Playoffs vs Pacers?

The Milwaukee Bucks are trying to get revenge against the Pacers. Will they be able to do it?

Apr 10, 2025; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (34) looks for a shot against New Orleans Pelicans center Kylor Kelley (35) in the third quarter at Fiserv Forum. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-Imagn Images | Benny Sieu-Imagn Images

The Milwaukee Bucks were embarrassed in the first round of the playoffs last season. They were taken out by the Indiana Pacers in six games, despite the Bucks having home-court advantage.

This year, the two teams will face off in the first round yet again. This time, the Pacers will be the team with home-court advantage. That will certainly matter because of how good they are at home.

Giannis Antetokounmpo missed the entire series last season, but he will be good to go this year. There is still a question whether or not they will have Damian Lillard, though.

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Lillard also missed the first two games of the series these two teams played last season, so his health is the biggest storyline in this series. Can the Bucks get revenge on the Pacers?

It's not going to be easy, especially if Lillard misses any games in this series. The Pacers are more healthy than they were last year too now that Bennedict Mathurin is available.

What gives the Bucks hope is how well they played the Pacers during the regular season. They were 3-1 against Indiana this year, which is totally flipped from how things went last year.

Getting Bobby Portis back before the regular season ended was also big for them. He is their best bench player, and bench scoring is going to be huge for Milwaukee.

Indiana's strength is Tyrese Haliburton getting shots for his teammates and their bench scoring. If Milwaukee can find a way to limit both of those things, they have a great shot to win this series.

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The Pacers have never found a way to slow down Antetokounmpo. He kills them everytime these two teams play.

It likely will be Indiana's strategy to let him get his points and try to shut down everyone else, especially if Lillard is not out there. That means that someone else is going to need to step up offensively.

Antetokounmpo is liable to drop 60 points on the Pacers at any point in this series. That's one of the biggest reasons why the Bucks should feel confident about getting revenge.

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