Damian Lillard needs to call an exorcist or a realtor because the Indiana Pacers are living rent-free in his head. A distracted and arrhythmic Damian Lillard won’t be enough for the Milwaukee Bucks to advance against the Pacers. Kyle Kuzma is shirking from the moment. He followed up his 0-fer against the Pacers by missing a pair of bunnies at the rim early in Game 2’s proceedings.
Giannis Antetokounmpo has to be looking around at the five teammates on the floor with him and feel the weight of the world on his shoulders. The Bucks can’t beat Indiana in the depth game. However, this team doesn’t defend as well as they used to in their Budenholzer heyday. It’s not on Lillard either because even in his absence, they were a league-average defense.
On Tuesday, an anonymous poll was released by The Athletic which named Tyrese Haliburton the NBA’s most overrated player. Haliburton saw the headlines, then orchestrated Indiana's offense with lethal precision, despite an inefficient night misfiring from all over the floor, and still dished 12 assists to his platoon of floor spacing sharpshooters.
The Bucks defense looked like they were facing a firing squad. Indiana got to the line 19 times and made every single one of them. Every single member of the starting lineup scored at least 15. The Bucks committing 11 more turnovers than the Pacers also didn’t help.
The Bucks need Damian Lillard's offense in the worst way
Meanwhile, Lillard can't continue shooting like a Stormtrooper and has to deliver like Amazon on a nightly basis against the Pacers if the Bucks are going to survive because the defensive end won’t be their salvation. Bobby Portis’ 28 points kept Milwaukee within striking distance but he can only exchange scoring volumes with Lillard for one night.
Lillard has always measured himself against the legend of Steph Curry. Prior to Game 1 against Houston, Amen Thompson was getting boosted as a potential Curry stopper. Curry took it personally and shot the nets off the Toyota Center rims dialing it from drone range. During Game 1, Lillard was in street clothes getting into verbal exchanges with Haliburton.
That’s the type of aggression they needed from him on Tuesday night. When guarded by Andrew Nembhard and Mathurin, Lillard looked like he’d been spun through a cyclone. Much of it can be blamed on rust, but he won’t have much time to rediscover his rhythm on the road in an intense playoff battle. A major component is the Nembhard matchup.
Nembhard has been giving Lillard hell all season. In three games against the Bucks, Lillard has averaged 18.5 points per game on 35 percent shooting. Getting thrown into the Nembhard gulag in your first game back is disorienting. Doc Rivers has to inject movement into the Bucks offense and help manufacture better matchups for Lillard through screen actions.
It’s not time to break out the flasks yet though. Milwaukee will return home for the next two games for an opportunity to tie the series. Lillard will have a second chance to free himself from Nembhell after using Game 2 to feel things out.
Lillard won’t have much time to get back on the horse though. Game 3 is virtually do-or-die. Time for Lillard to buck up and rise to the challenge.