INDIANAPOLIS — For the first time in four years, the NBA Playoffs have returned to Indianapolis.
The Indiana Pacers will play the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs. The best-of-7 series opens Sunday, April 21 in Milwaukee.
After two games on the Bucks' home court, the series will move to Gainbridge Fieldhouse for Games 3 and 4 of the series. If necessary, the series will alternate venues, starting in Milwaukee for Game 5.
In addition to national broadcasts, each game will also be broadcast on Bally Sports Indiana.
Here is the schedule:
Game 1: Sunday, April 21 7 p.m. at Milwaukee (TNT)
Game 2: Tuesday, April 23 8:30 p.m. at Milwaukee (NBA TV)
Game 3: Friday, April 26 5:30 p.m. at Indiana (ESPN)
Game 4: Sunday, April 28 7 p.m. at Indiana (TNT)
*Game 5: Tuesday, April 30 at Milwaukee (TBD)
*Game 6: Thursday, May 2 at Indiana (TBD)
*Game 7: Saturday, May 4 at Milwaukee (TNT)
(*-if necessary)
Before this season, the Pacers hadn't made the playoffs since the 2019-20 season, when they were swept by Miami, as the COVID-19 pandemic pushed the playoffs back to August and inside a bubble in Orlando.
Indiana is also looking to snap a nine-game playoff losing streak dating back to 2018, when they lost a first-round series to Cleveland in seven games. The Pacers' last series win came in 2014, when they reached their second straight Eastern Conference Finals series to the Miami Heat.
Milwaukee enters the playoff series with some questions.
Two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo hasn't played since straining his left calf in a game on April 9. He hasn't practiced this week and remains questionable for Game 1 on Sunday. Meanwhile, seven-time all-NBA guard Damian Lillard also missed practice Tuesday as he recovers from a sore left adductor, but reportedly participated in a walk-through and did some shooting on Wednesday and participated fully in Friday's practice.
Antetokounmpo did return for some light work on Friday, he has yet to participate in live drills.
Although Bucks President Peter Feigin told Milwaukee radio station WKLH that Antetokounmpo “definitely will not be back for Sunday,” coach Doc Rivers said he isn’t ready to rule the two-time MVP out for the start of the series.
“I don’t know yet,” Rivers said Friday. “We’re still hoping. He hasn’t done anything. Would we throw him out there? Yeah, we would. For us, still we’re not sure.”
Regular season
It's been awhile since the Pacers and Bucks have met on the court, but the five games they played during the regular season sparked a rivalry that should make for a spirited playoff series.
Indiana won the season series four games to one, including a win in the NBA's inaugural In-Season Tournament. Here's how those games played out:
Nov. 9 - Pacers 126, Bucks 124
Antetokounmpo scored 54 points, but Tyrese Haliburton scored 29 and Bennedict Mathurin added 26 as the host Pacers picked up the win. Indiana led by 18 in the first quarter, but had to rally from a 10-point deficit, sealing the win on a 3-pointer by Haliburton with 1:29 remaining.
Lillard missed the game with a calf injury.
Dec. 7 - Pacers 128, Bucks 119
Playing for a spot in the championship of the first-ever In-Season Tournament, Haliburton and Myles Turner combined for 53 points to set off a celebration in Las Vegas. The Pacers fell to the Lakers in the title game, but again asserted themselves against one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference.
Dec. 13 - Bucks 140, Pacers 126
The Pacers' lone loss to Milwaukee in the season series ended with some postgame fireworks.
Antetokounmpo scored a Milwaukee franchise-record 64 points in the 14-point win, but exploded down the tunnel toward the Indiana locker room after the game, in search of the game ball as he tried to commemorate his accomplishment.
The Pacers had reportedly grabbed the ball after the game for a tribute of their own, marking rookie Oscar Tshiebwe's first NBA point.
"A couple of minutes later, several of their players ended up in our hallway, and there was a big, I don't know what to call it — a fracas, melee, whatever," Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. "I don't think any punches were landed, but my general manager got elbowed in the ribs by one of their players."
Jan. 1 - Pacers 122, Bucks 113
Indiana was back in Milwaukee less than three weeks after the game ball controversy and avenged the loss with a 122-113 victory that snapped the Bucks' 15-game home winning streak.
Haliburton and Mathurin again led the Pacers, combining for 51 points, while the Indiana bench outscored Milwaukee's reserves 70-16.
Jan. 3 - Pacers 142, Bucks 130
Two nights later, the Pacers scored 47 points in the third quarter to clinch the season series with a 142-130 win over Milwaukee. Haliburton had 31 points and 12 assists in Indiana's fifth consecutive victory.
“I think the embarrassing part is that we're just so much better than what we've shown in the games against them," Lillard said after the game. “I also don't look at it like ‘Oh, it’s just the regular seasson.' We wanted to win these games.”
The Bucks finished the season with a 49-33 record, including a 31-11 mark at home. The sixth-seeded Pacers were just two games back of Milwaukee in the tightly-packed Eastern Conference, where just three games separated second and seventh place, with a 47-35 record.
(The Associated Press contributed to this story.)