MILWAUKEE (AP) — Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton offers a succinct description of the growing rivalry between his team and the Milwaukee Bucks.
“It’s no secret,” Haliburton said. “They don’t like us. We don’t like them.”
The two Eastern Conference foes met for the last time in the regular season on Saturday night, with the Bucks building a 21-point, fourth-quarter lead and hanging on down the stretch for a 126-119 victory.
But it’s looking increasingly likely that the teams will face off in the opening round of the playoffs for a second straight season.
Milwaukee’s victory Saturday gave the Bucks (38-28) a one-game lead over Indiana for fourth place in the East and the corresponding home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs. Both teams still must look out for the Detroit Pistons, who are sixth in the East and just two games behind Milwaukee and one back of Indiana.
The Pacers eliminated the Bucks 4-2 in the opening round last season before going on to reach the East finals. Bucks coach Doc Rivers said that postseason matchup helped build this developing rivalry.
“There’s definitely something there, and that’s good,” Rivers said before Saturday’s game. “I think rivalries are great, personally. You can’t just make them up, though. They have to happen. I think this one is happening. And it’s good.”
The key to the rivalry is the spirited matchups between the teams over the last two seasons.
Haliburton mimicked Bucks guard Damian Lillard’s “Dame Time” celebration by pointing to his wrist during Indiana’s victory over Milwaukee in last season’s semifinals of the NBA Cup, which was known then as the In-Season Tournament.
Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo scored a franchise-record 64 points in a victory over the Pacers later that season and then raced toward Indiana’s locker room afterward in a dispute over the game ball.
The Pacers pulled out an improbable 115-114 triumph over the Bucks on Tuesday in Indiana when Haliburton made a four-point play with 3.4 seconds remaining, getting fouled while sinking an off-balance 3-pointer and then making the ensuing free throw.
Milwaukee got a measure of revenge Saturday but only after Indiana nearly pulled off a remarkable comeback. Indiana trailed by 21 with 11 minutes left but got the deficit down to three with 12.7 seconds remaining before the Bucks hung on.
“A team like the Indiana Pacers, they’re going to keep on playing hard, they’re going to keep on trying to create open 3s and trying to get downhill and try to keep on playing fast,” said Antetokounmpo, who had 34 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists Saturday before fouling out. “You’ve got to be ready to play a 48-minute basketball game.”
Indiana’s fast-paced approach represents an interesting contrast with Milwaukee, which has one of the league’s older rosters and tends to operate at a slower tempo.
The Pacers have a younger team that’s led by Haliburton, who grew up in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, and now gets boos whenever he plays in his home state.
He may want to get used to hearing them. The Bucks’ victory Saturday gave them a 3-1 edge in their season series with the Pacers, giving Milwaukee the head-to-head tiebreaker if the two teams end up with the same record.
That means there’s a possibility Haliburton could be playing in Milwaukee as many as four times in the first round of the playoffs.
“It’s looking right now like we might be on a crash course to seeing each other again,” Haliburton said. “That’s the beautiful part of basketball. I think everybody as competitors enjoys these matchups, enjoys these games. It’s two small-market Midwest teams, and I think that just makes it even more fun.”
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Steve Megargee, The Associated Press