For the second time in three days, the Indiana Pacers have bested the Milwaukee Bucks as these two Eastern conference teams continue their newfound rivalry.
It was back on New Year’s Day that Indiana took out Milwaukee by the score of 122-113 at home. Star guard and NBA MVP candidate Tyrese Haliburton nearly recorded a triple-double (26 points, 9 rebounds, 11 assists) in that previous matchup.
With Indiana heading into Milwaukee for Wednesday night’s top game on the NBA schedule, Rick Carlisle and Co. made yet another statement.
Indiana blew out the Bucks by the score of 142-130. The NBA-best Pacers offense put up an absurd 47 points in the third quarter to pretty much win this going away.
Haliburton put up another banner outing against his now-chief rival. The guards scored 31 points and added 12 assists. Indiana was also plus-21 in his 34 minutes of action. He was a man on a mission.
In what has been a defining trait of the surprising 19-14 Pacers this season, depth showed out big time. Their bench went for 59 points in completely outplaying Milwaukee’s second unit (38).
On the other side, Damian Lillard was outplayed by Haliburton again after what we saw during the NBA In-Season Tournament. The future Hall of Famer shot a mere 6-of-18 from the field. That wasn’t enough for Milwaukee to come out on top despite Giannis Antetokounmpo’s near triple-double (26 points, 11 rebounds, 8 assists).
By virtue of this latest win, Indiana finishes up its regular-season series against Milwaukee with an outstanding 4-1 record. The young team is certainly proving that it can compete with the big boys in the Eastern Conference. That includes a 7-4 record against the top-four seeds in the conference following Wednesday night.
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Indiana Pacers should be active at NBA trade deadline
Indiana has been linked to Toronto Raptors star forward Pascal Siakam in talks leading up to the Feb. 8 NBA trade deadline. It makes sense for front office head Kevin Pritchard and Co. to look into this possibility.
That’s especially true after Toronto signaled a rebuild is in the cards after trading fellow forward OG Anunoby to the New York Knicks late in December.
The idea here would be to add a top-end frontcourt player to go with the aforementioned Tyrese Haliburton. Imagine the inside-out game the Pacers would have with Haliburton, Siakam and Myles Turner.
- Pascal Siakam stats (2023-24): 22.4 PPG, 6.5 RPG, 5.0 APG, 52% shooting
Not only would Siakam bring that traditional second scorer behind Haliburton, but he’s also a darn good defender. He’s finished with a positive defensive win shares each season since entering the Association back in 2016-17.
Indiana entered Wednesday’s NBA schedule yielding an average of 124.4 points per game, good enough for 29th out of 30 teams.
These Pacers have both the young players and contracts to pull off a trade for someone of Siakam’s ilk. Buddy Hield would likely head out of town as a salary filler with recent lottery pick Bennedict Mathurin taking his spot in the starting five.
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Youngsters such as Jalen Smith and Jarace Walker could also entice the Raptors in a potential trade.
If not Siakam, there are going to be other opportunities present themselves for the Indiana Pacers heading into the trade deadline.
At this point, Indiana owes it to Haliburton to do what it can to improve the roster behind him. The young man is in the midst of an absolutely spectacular season. He looks like one of the top-five stars in the NBA.
It has the Pacers looking like legitimate threats in the Eastern Conference after Wednesday’s road win over Milwaukee. Why not keep the momentum going?