It seems that every time Milwaukee Bucks and Indiana Pacers meet, something too dramatic happens. If it is a dispute about the rights of a game ball or a NBA Annoyed Cup, these teams have run into one of the most funny basketball rivalries. Tuesday was another stun. But this time, it was purely a basketball issue.
With 6.1 seconds for the end and Bucks lead 112-110, Andrew Nembhard from Indiana received a foul with the opportunity to tie the game. However, he divided his free throws, placing Milwaukee in the driver’s seat 112-111. Damian Lillard then then sank two free throws with 3.2 seconds to extend the advantage to three, which means that the worst case of Milwaukee, except something catastrophic, was in extra time.
And then something catastrophic happened.
With remaining 3.2 seconds, Indiana aligned for an unorthodox entrance game. The four possible pass receptors were aligned on the rear track, with three in a parallel line. All the design, which Indiana first used in a game of the East Conference finals against Boston a year ago, was destined to generate enough confusion to free Tyrese Haliburton in motion. That is exactly what happened.
Haliburton caught the incoming pass and threw a triple when a desperate Giannis Antetokounmpo got into him and committed a foul. Haliburton hit the 3 and sank the free kick to give the Pacers an unlikely play of four points and an advantage of one point. Antetokounmppo a triple was lost at the other end. Finished game.
The shot was incredible in the void, but also wore important playoff implications. Indiana and Milwaukee are now tied with identical records of 36-28. The Detroit Pistons have played two more games than both and have divided them, placing them in 37-29 and the three teams effectively tied for seed number 4 at the Eastern Conference. It is completely possible that this shot ends balance the advantage of the court at home in a first round series between pacemaker and dollars, or changing who ends in front of who when the first round arrives.
Regardless of how the classification is seen in a month, this was one of the craziest photos of the 2024-25 season. The four -point plays won by the game are extremely rare. The defenses know that the most important thing to defend an end of the game situation while leading three is not going wrong. But Indiana was able to accelerate her way to the line, and the incredible Haliburton shot was enough to steal the game.
