Are we seeing a stellar comeback of ‘Playoff Dame’?

The Milwaukee Bucks entered the playoffs on a positive note. Despite initial concerns about their performance, such as the absence of Giannis Antetokounmpo, a negative record since Doc Rivers took over as coach, and an overall lackluster performance, the team managed to turn things around in just two quarters. Damian Lillard played a key role in the game, activating his Playoff Dame mode and leading the team to a decisive victory over the Indiana Pacers. This win marks Lillard’s return to the playoffs after a long absence and gives the Bucks an early lead in the first round. The final score was 109-94, indicating a comfortable win for the Bucks.

The basketball game started with Giannis wearing street clothes on the bench due to his injury. Unfortunately, there is no precise date for his return, and not having the best player available at the start of the playoffs is not good news. However, the team didn’t miss him this time, thanks to another star player, Lillard. Although Lillard did not have the best season of his career in his debut in Milwaukee, he performed best on the day his team needed it most. He scored 19 points in the first quarter, the highest score of any player in a postseason opening quarter since 1997. Rivers sat him down for the first 5 minutes of the second quarter, and his teammates continued their work with a 14-3 run. When Lillard came back, he continued to play well. At halftime, the score was 69-42, with a final quarter score of 0-9 for the Pacers.

Lillard scored an impressive 35 points in the first half of the playoffs, the highest score since Kevin Durant’s 38 against the Clippers in the first round of 2019. Although he didn’t score more, it didn’t matter because the damage was already done. Even though there were still 24 minutes left in the game, the Pacers had already lost. Lillard only attempted five more shots and finished with 11 out of 24 shooting and 6 out of 11 three-point shooting. The second half allowed the other players to shine, and they held their own when Indiana threatened to come back at the end of the third quarter (83-71). Jae Crowder and Malik Beasley helped the team by hitting two triples at the beginning of the last quarter, which increased the local advantage to over 20 points. This difference did not narrow again beyond 14. Khris Middleton, another key player for the Bucks, had a great game with 23 points and 10 rebounds, which is important for the possible success of the team this year. Bobby Portis, who had just been nominated for Best Sixth Man, also celebrated with a double-double (15+11), this time from the starting five, as he replaced Giannis.

The Milwaukee Bucks had a great defensive game, especially on the outside, which had been lacking for much of the season. They controlled Tyrese Halliburton, a star player on the opposing team, who only managed to score 9 points, 7 rebounds, and 8 assists, with only 7 shots at the basket. Pascal Siakam was the only one with a good game for the Pacers, scoring 36 points, but he was still trapped by the Bucks’ defense. The Pacers only made 21.1% of the three-pointers they attempted despite being the regular season’s top scorer and having won three of four matches against the Bucks. However, in this game, the Pacers seemed more harmless than ever before.