Without star Damian Lillard, Giannis-led Bucks easily fall to Pacers in playoffs opener

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As the Milwaukee Bucks eagerly await the return of superstar sniper Damian Lillard, the Indiana Pacers get a big head start with a 29-point blowout in Game 1 of their best-of-7 NBA playoffs series

Andrew Nembhard and Pascal Siakam combined for 27 points in a runaway first half, Tyrese Haliburton directed a high-efficiency offense with 12 total assists and the Indiana Pacers thumped the visiting Milwaukee Bucks 117-98 to open their Eastern Conference first-round playoff series on Saturday afternoon (Sunday, April 20, Manila time).

Siakam finished with 25 points, Myles Turner added 19 and Nembhard had 17, helping the fourth-seeded Pacers gain the early edge in the best-of-seven against a team that beat them three of four in the regular season, including once on Indiana’s floor.

“The series is one-seventh over. Game 2 will be monumentally more difficult than this game,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. “The ebbs and flow of a series are so up-and-down, it’s impossible to predict what’s going to happen from game to game.”

Giannis Antetokounmpo powered his way to 36 points for the fifth-seeded Bucks, who played without star guard Damian Lillard, out with deep vein thrombosis in his right calf. The Bucks expect Lillard back either for Tuesday’s Game 2 rematch in Indianapolis or Game 3 on Friday in Milwaukee.

“Giannis got to the basket too much,” Carlisle said. “We were trying to build walls, and he was still getting there. Not a surprise, but we gotta look at that.”

The opener was never in doubt after an early 12-2 burst gave the Pacers a 15-8 lead. Nembhard had six points and Siakam and Aaron Nesmith a 3-pointer apiece in the run.

The Bucks, who won their last eight games of the regular season, hung within 53-41 after Antetokounmpo converted a three-point play with 3:45 left in the half. But the Pacers’ Bennedict Mathurin buried a 3-pointer to trigger a 14-2, half-closing run that broke the game open at 67-43 entering the break.

Siakam shot 10-for-15 and Nembhard 8-for-13 for the game for the Pacers, who earned the home-court advantage in the series by virtue of winning 50 games in the regular season, two more than the Bucks.

Haliburton added 10 points and seven rebounds, while Mathurin totaled 13 points and T.J. McConnell 11. Indiana’s largest lead was 28 points.

“(Haliburton is) an interesting kid because he’s more than just a scorer,” Bucks coach Doc Rivers said. “Teams try to take things away from him, and when they do, he’s smart enough to make plays for his teammates. I thought he was very happy doing that. He’s a point guard. I thought he had a helluva game even though he didn’t score (much) because he got everybody involved.

The Pacers outshot the Bucks 51.9 percent to 41.7 percent.

Antetokounmpo’s 36 points were his 11th-most in a playoff game. He also found time for 12 rebounds, giving him his 53rd career postseason double-double.

No other Bucks starter scored in double figures. AJ Green chipped in with 15 points off the bench, Gary Trent Jr. 14 and Kevin Porter Jr. 12. Porter also accumulated five assists.

“There’s some really good things to take from this game,” Rivers said. “There’s some things that we need to make adjustments to. And there are things we know we can’t do.” – Rappler.com