The Indiana Pacers knocked the Milwaukee Bucks out of the playoffs on Thursday night with a 120-98 victory in Game 6.
Perhaps the most impactful player for the Pacers was veteran guard T.J. McConnell, who came off the bench to score 20 points on 7-for-9 shooting to go along with nine assists and four steals in 23 minutes of action.
When asked about the impact that McConnell had on the outcome of the game, Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton gave a pretty genuine response about his teammate.
“Yeah I knew he was gonna respond,” Haliburton said. “His wife Val was here and I always tell him that he plays better when Val is at the games. He was a little down after Game 5. He didn’t perform how he wanted to. I just told him, ‘Hey we’re gonna go home. Val is gonna be at the game. You’re gonna be better.’ And it happened, so shoutout Val!” Haliburton concluded with a big smile on his face.
“His wife Val was here and I always tell him he plays better when Val is at the games.”
Tyrese Haliburton reveals why he thinks TJ McConnell played so well in Game 6 😂 pic.twitter.com/HGElduAMZH
McConnell’s shooting and playmaking prowess off the bench will certainly be needed in the Eastern Conference semifinals when the Pacers take on the New York Knicks.
Game 1 is set for Monday at 7:30 p.m. ET at Madison Square Garden.
The NBA’s Last Two Minute report from Game 1 of the series between the New York Knicks and Indiana Pacers is going to be a doozy.
The Knicks won the game, 121–117, behind another explosive scoring night from Jalen Brunson, who had 43 points to become the first player since Michael Jordan to score at least 40 points in four straight playoff games. But the Knicks also benefited significantly from several questionable officiating decisions down the stretch in a tight game.
The most crucial and most controversial was the offensive foul call on Pacers center Myles Turner with 12.1 seconds left. The play came immediately after a Knicks turnover gave Indiana new life, with New York leading 118–117 and the Pacers able to hold the ball for the last shot. Tyrese Haliburton brought the ball across halfcourt, guarded by Donte DiVincenzo. Turner came up to set a screen on DiVincenzo and DiVincenzo crumpled to the floor as if he’d been stuck by a cattle prod. Turner was whistled for a moving screen, giving the ball back to the Knicks and effectively ending any hopes of a Pacers comeback. (The Pacers challenged the call but it was upheld on review.)
NO WAY!!! Refs called this an offensive foul on the Pacers. Pacers challenge the call but how is this called with 12 seconds left? #INDvsNYKpic.twitter.com/jlx9DYkyeE
Were Turner’s feet still moving when he set the screen? Sure. Slightly. By the letter of the law, it’s a foul. But it’s a marginal call at best, and not the type of foul that usually gets called at that stage in a playoff game.
“I think it’s best when the players decide the outcome of the game,” Turner said after the game. “I think it’s unfortunate that it happened. We reviewed it; they still called it an illegal screen. But it’s the playoffs, man. I feel like DiVincenzo did a good job of selling it. For the most part you can’t leave the game to be decided by the refs. So we have to take accountability as well. Of course it’s right after the game, I’m a little fresh in my emotions about it, but we know, at the end of the day, we can’t get to that position.
“The Last Two Minute report, we’re all looking forward to that coming out. I think there was two controversial calls. We had to use our challenge on one call on Tyrese [Haliburton]. And then the kickball by Aaron Nesmith that was not a kickball—you can clearly see it on the replay.”
While the moving screen call is debatable, there’s no doubt that Turner is right about the missed call on Nesmith. With 52 seconds left to play and the score tied at 115, Brunson tried to sneak a pass to DiVincenzo in transition. Nesmith deflected the pass, but the officials ruled that he did so with his foot, which is illegal, and the Knicks retained possession. In fact, video shows that Nesmith clearly deflected the pass with his hand, but the call was not reviewable.
The refs called this a kick ball… THE REFS CALLED THIS A KICK BALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! pic.twitter.com/ew7zOP8lE7
The blown call denied the Pacers a fastbreak opportunity in the final minute of a tied game. Instead, immediately after the Knicks got the ball back, DiVincenzo hit a dagger three. Crew chief Zach Zarba told a pool reporter after the game that the call was incorrect.
The bad calls weren’t the only reason the Pacers lost. One other reason was that Haliburton made several questionable decisions in the final minutes (he had three turnovers in the last four minutes of the game). But when playing against a quality opponent in a raucous road environment, it’s next to impossible to win when you also have to overcome uneven officiating.
The other game on Monday night was equally interesting, but not equally competitive. In Game 2 of their series, the Minnesota Timberwolves eviscerated the Denver Nuggets, 106–80, to take a 2–0 lead in the series.
The result was notable for a few reasons. First of all, Minnesota was playing without center Rudy Gobert, who was away from the team awaiting the birth of his first child. Even without Gobert, the favorite to win his fourth Defensive Player of the Year award, the Timberwolves’ defense still held Denver to its fewest points since Game 7 of the 2020 first round against the Jazz (an 80–78 win for the Nuggets).
The loss also marked just the second time during the Nikola Jokić era that the Nuggets lost back-to-back home playoff games. The only other time was when the Phoenix Suns finished off a four-game sweep in Denver in the 2021 second round. The Nuggets were nearly unbeatable at home during their championship run last season, losing just one game in Denver (Game 2 of the NBA Finals against the Miami Heat). But the T-Wolves are just that good. Anthony Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns were excellent again in Game 2, combining for 54 points on just 32 shots. It’ll be an uphill battle for the Nuggets to come back and win the series after squandering home-court advantage so dramatically.
Murray (top) looked completely frustrated during Denver’s Game 2 loss to Minnesota.
The Indiana Pacers are headed to the Eastern Conference semifinals after defeating the Milwaukee Bucks in six games.
Pacers All-Star point guard Tyrese Haliburton pulled no punches when gloating over the series victory, taking to X and referencing an old quote from Bucks point guard Damian Lillard in order to take a shot at Patrick Beverley.
"Con man. Flip from above the rim," wrote Haliburton on X, quoting an old post of a video in which Beverley was talking trash about Haliburton's game to reporters.
Lillard and Beverley, who are now teammates in Milwaukee, haven't always gotten along. In a previous spat between the two guards, Lillard used that same quote to compare Beverley to Bernie Mac's character, Flip, from the 1994 film, "Above the Rim."
Suffice to say, Flip isn't a character most would want to draw connections to, and Haliburton made his own feelings on Beverley abundantly clear with his seven-word tweet on Thursday.
It's not the first time that the Bucks have been eliminated by Indiana this year. The Pacers knocked Milwaukee out of the in-season tournament, a game during which Haliburton did his fair share of showboating, which prompted a response from Damian Lillard in a postgame press conference.
After ending the Bucks' season with their 4–2 series win, Haliburton once again was eager to celebrate and took the opportunity to troll Beverley in savage fashion.
It was a rough night for Patrick Beverley and the Milwaukee Bucks.
The Indiana Pacers took care of business at home, defeating the Bucks 120-98 in Game 6 to advance to the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs.
Pacers fans behind the Bucks' bench exchanged words with Beverley during the game, and it was clear that Beverley's frustrations had boiled over. Beverley tossed a ball at a Pacers fan in the stands, who then lobbed it back in his direction. Beverley then took the ball and threw it with force back at the fan before being restrained by his teammates.
Beverley didn't address the altercation with the fans in his postgame media availability, but he continued his antics by asking an ESPN producer to stop interviewing him because she didn't subscribe to his podcast.
As for the run-in with the Pacers fans, Beverley gave an excuse for his behavior in a social media post after the game, before issuing a half-hearted apology.
Not Fair at all. Exchanged between a fan and our ball club all night. We warned and asked for help all night. Not fair. 🙏🏾🙏🏾❤️ https://t.co/e2o0lcqZtg
It's fair to assume that Beverley will be hearing from the league office, both for refusing an interview (which he's obligated to give per the CBA) and throwing the ball at Pacers fans in the stands.
Not a great night for Beverley or the Bucks, who will now move into the offseason with plenty of questions.
