Happy New Year! I don't know about y'all but I'm feeling good about 2024 and I don't often say that in an election year. Perhaps it's because the Pacers are on a three game win streak, or because they've started playing something resembling defense, or maybe it's because Tyrese Haliburton is blossoming into bona fide superstar right before our very eyes.

It's possible I'm simply enjoying having a competitive team to root for after a few years of playing for the draft. I mean it's January 1st and our next two games against the Bucks are going to have playoff intensity.

Then next week we have two games against the Celtics where they'll look to exact revenge for our victory in the IST that sent them home early.

The Pacers have targets on their backs. They have bad blood with other teams. I absolutely love it. This is what sports fandom is all about.

Milwaukee

The Pacers are 2-1 against the Bucks so far this season and the games have all been emotional affairs. After the last game, a Pacers loss, a bit of a kerfuffle broke out between the teams. At the time, the casus belli was purportedly about whether Oscar Tshiebwe deserved the game ball for scoring his first NBA points or Giannis Antetokoumpo deserved it for breaking the Bucks' franchise single game scoring record.

However, the narrative from the Milwaukee camp has apparently shifted to what they perceive as a lack of humility on the part of the Pacers. Whatever the justification, it's clear the Pacers are under the Bucks' skin.

This being the fourth matchup between the teams, we more or less know how the game will play out. Milwaukee is going to pound the ball inside with Giannis and the refs are going to blow the whistle whenever a Pacers player so much as breathes on him. My issue with how Giannis is officiated isn't so much that he doesn't get banged around – he absolutely does – it's that he creates the contact the vast majority of the time. I'm not sure what the defender is supposed to do when a giant runs straight through his chest.

Since the last time the Pacers and Bucks faced off, Rick Carlisle has gone to a bigger lineup by inserting Jalen Smith (and Aaron Nesmith) into the starting group. Hopefully that extra size and length will help the Pacers keep Giannis out of the lane and clean up misses when the refs don't bail the Greek Freak out.

Both the Pacers and the Bucks are excellent offensively in the half-court. Unfortunately, Milwaukee's half-court defense is much better than ours. Therefore, it will important for the Pacers to get out and push as much as possible to prevent the Bucks from turning the game into a low possession, set-defense affair. I'm afraid the refs may not play along. Their whistles certainly affected the last matchup more than either coach's game plan.

Pacers Player Propaganda

Aaron Nesmith is the league's best three point shooter going into 2024. He's coming off a performance against the Knicks where he drilled 7/11 from deep and is now shooting nearly 50% for the year. Surely, a shooting slump is coming at some point soon but give him credit for turning an area where he was so-so last year into a real strength.

Speaking of another player who has blossomed before our eyes, Myles Turner has played arguably the best stretch of his career over the past few weeks. Myles is doing everything well, providing Tyrese with a reliable outlet offensively when he gets trapped and defending the rim with his usual stinginess. If Turner was ever to make an All-Star game, this would be the year. Vote for him if you haven't already.

Oh yeah, Tyrese has been doing some pretty cool things himself. You know, back-to-back 20 point, 20 assist games with hardly any turnovers. Something that puts him in the conversation with Magic Johnson and John Stockton. No big deal.

Mad Ants

The rookies continue to play well when they get the opportunity.

Speaking of rookies not getting playing time early on, I saw this clip from Paul George's podcast. There was a brief discussion about how miserable JOB was as our coach (and how miserable his players were playing for him) in the comment section the other night. According the PG, it might have been even more toxic that we realized.

Injuries

At the time of writing, Bruce Brown is doubtful. Jae Crowder and MarJon Beauchamp are out for the Bucks.

How to Watch

Tipoff is at 8:00 PM ET.

TV: Bally Sports Indiana, NBA League Pass

Radio: 93.5/107.5 The Fan

See ya in the comments!

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