Haliburton, Pacers Squeak by Bucks in OT

There was an instant classic in ‘Nap Town’ on Friday night. Tyrese Haliburton was not afraid of the huge moment and hit a clutch floater with ice water in his veins, from the free-throw line with 1.6 seconds left in overtime to give the Indiana Pacers a 121–118 win in Game 3 of their first-round NBA playoff matchup against the Milwaukee Bucks. With the victory, the Pacers take a critical 2-1 series lead.

“You know I was going to shoot it, no matter what,” Haliburton said. “What I was going to get was really based off of feel. there. Khris (Middleton) pushed Pascal (Siakam) up to tell Patrick (Beverley) to go under and as soon as I saw Patrick kind of turn his head, I reacted and everything opened up across the middle and I finally made a shot. I couldn’t buy a bucket tonight.”

The game almost went to a second overtime when Khris Middleton tied the score at 118–118 by banking in a three-pointer from the top of the arc with eight seconds remaining. Middleton sent the game to its first extra session after hitting a three-pointer over Andrew Nembhard and Aaron Nesmith to knot the game at 111–111 with 2.1 seconds left in the fourth quarter.

Middleton was listed as questionable on Thursday with a sprained ankle, but he fought through it like a warrior and scored a game-high 42 points, shooting 4-for-9 from distance, with 10 rebounds for the Bucks.

Damian Lillard looked as if he might have to set out the rest of the game after suffering an apparent knee injury late in the opening quarter. He took the ball to the cup against Pascal Siakam and landed awkwardly on his left leg.

The eight-time All-Star immediately went to the floor and grabbed his knee in obvious pain. The trainers and the medical staff looked him over on the Bucks’ bench, then took him to the locker room to exam him further. In the first half, Lillard scored only nine points on 2-for-10 from the field.

Lillard put up 28 points and eight dimes, most coming after he hurt his left knee in the first quarter and then aggravating an Achilles tendon injury late in the fourth quarter. But his health for the rest of the series is a huge question mark. Following the contest in his postgame press conference, Bucks coach Doc Rivers explained that there is a chance that Lillard may have reinjured his Achilles tendon.

Lillard looked like he would be the difference in the game during the second half. But as Rivers mentioned, he ran out of gas toward the end of the game and was not a factor in overtime.

“We’ve just got to turn the page and get one win after another,” said Lillard, who is playing in his first postseason with the Bucks, who are 2-6 against Indiana this season.

The Bucks came into the series short-handed without the services of their best player and two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, out due to a calf injury. Despite finishing as the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference, Milwaukee losing to the No. 6 seed Pacers now looks like a very real possibility with its three best players either sidelined or hobbled.

Bobby Portis Jr. finished with a massive double-double, 17 points and 18 rebounds for the Bucks, while Siakam had 17 points and nine rebounds for the Pacers.

“I thought we picked up our energy, I thought we got more physical,” Lillard said. “We just kind of got things under control, we got matched up, got into the gaps and thought once we started to do all of those things, the game started to turn. That’s something we’ve got to focus on.”

It was a wild and crazy finish in front of a jubilant crowed decked out in gold T-shirts for Indiana’s first home playoff game since April 21, 2019, and with many local celebrities in attendance. The crowd included Indiana Fever newcomer Caitlin Clark, former Colts coach Tony Dungy, former Pacers forward Derrick McKey and current Colts players Anthony Richardson, Kenny Moore II and E.J. Speed.

Clark, the WNBA’s No. 1 overall pick and Division I career scoring leader, drew a standing ovation as she energized the crowd in the team’s pregame IndyCar replica.

Game 4 of the series is scheduled for Sunday in Indianapolis. Tip-off is at 7 p.m. ET, with the broadcast televised on TNT.