Pacers seek to make Game 2 more difficult for Bucks as NBA playoff teams focus on defensive effort

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — After seeing Indiana’s defense stifle the Milwaukee Bucks’ shooters, Pacers coach Rick Carlisle made it clear to his team that it needs to be even better in Game 2.

Yes, even in an NBA era defined by pace, spacing and 3-point shooting on offense, Carlisle knows postseason success usually comes down to defense.

The Pacers’ performance in Saturday’s first-round playoff series opener looked better on paper than it apparently did to Carlisle.

Milwaukee made 9 of 37 3-pointers (24.3%) after leading the league at 38.7% during the regular season and finished 17 1/2 points below its scoring average despite getting 36 points and 12 rebounds from two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo. The problem: Milwaukee’s four other starters totaled 14 points and two of them failed to score.

“Giannis got to the basket too much,” Carlisle said after his team’s 117-98 victory. “We’re trying to build walls and he’s still getting there. He’s a great player and great players cause collateral problems, so it’s not a surprise. We fouled them a lot, too, and we’ve got to cut down on the fouls.”

The message that good is not good enough seemed to catch on during the first weekend of the playoffs.

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Houston, the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference, had a season low in scoring during an old-school, grind-it-out 95-85 loss to No. 7 Golden State on Sunday. The Warriors can take a 2-0 lead Wednesday — if they can replicate their defensive performance.

The West’s top seed, Oklahoma City, put on a defensive clinic against Memphis in a 131-80 blowout Sunday. The Grizzlies shot 34.4% from the field, were 6 of 34 on 3s and committed 22 turnovers, prompting some observers to question Memphis’ effort. Game 2 is Tuesday.

The solution, at least in the Bucks’ case, sounds simple.

“We’ve just got to be more decisive with the ball. That’s pretty much it,” Antetokounmpo said Saturday. “When the ball gets to your hand, shoot the ball or create an opportunity to the advantage of the next player. If you don’t have a shot, that means you can get downhill and if you get downhill either you finish or you pass the ball.”

That’s the beauty of these playoff chess matches.

With days off and sometimes multiple days off between games and the same matchups repeatedly playing out, coaches and players have ample time to practice, make adjustments, change assignments and switch strategies.

The intrigue in each successive contest, such as the Pacers-Bucks matchup Tuesday in Indianapolis, explains why Carlisle has been telling his team it will be “monumentally” more difficult to take a 2-0 lead than it was to win Game 1.

“I think the odds of them shooting that poorly from 3 probably aren’t that high as the series goes on,” Pacers All-Star Tyrese Haliburton said. “I think we’ve done a great job of showing our pressure up on the floor. We’re just trying to keep flying around, making the extra effort because I feel like the basketball gods will reward you for the harder you play.”

Bucks coach Doc Rivers could get some help on that front if nine-time All-Star guard Damian Lillard returns. Lillard hasn’t played since March 18 as he recovers from deep vein thrombosis in his right calf. He was upgraded to questionable on Monday.

A year ago, he averaged 31.3 points per game against Indiana in a first-round series that the Pacers won 4-2. Even if Lillard returns this week, his minutes may be limited.

The other solution: better defense.

“They’re not going to give it to you, you’ve got to go out there and take it from them,” Antetokounmpo said. “For us to win the series, we’ve got to win on the road. So we’ve just got to figure out the way to win and the moment we watch film we’ll figure it out.”

Center Myles Turner, the two-time league blocks champ and the Pacers’ primary rim protector, concurs.

“Sometimes you’ve got to lose the battle to win the war,” he said when asked about defending Antetokounmpo. ”It’s playoff basketball, so it’s a matter of making it harder on them maybe than it was in the regular season or making it to their second or third options,”

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