The Pacers from Indiana turned around their shaky start in the playoffs with a dominant 125-108 win against the Milwaukee Bucks in Game 2, and that’s evened out 1-1 in the series first round. Nevertheless, the post-game comments by Bobby Portis, which rebranded the Pacers as “frontrunners,” were the fire that nurtured the rivalry that already existed between the two teams.
Indeed, Portis ended the night with 14 points and 11 boards; however, he was quite inaccurate with his shooting, as he had only 6-of-16. A minor altercation in the third quarter between Andrew Nembhard and Patrick Beverley drew attention from DeMar DeRozan and Amir Coffey, who then wanted DeMar DeRozan to engage in a clapping confrontation with Tyrese Haliburton and Nembhard.
Speaking directly in Portside, Portis said, “I mean, it’s nothing, but they’re lies, bro… When the cake is baking, they’re enjoying it, clapping all that. When the cake is not good, it’s not their business.” Portis showed the changing moods of Melkoinc Parker’s players based on the game results.
The Milwaukee Bucks and Indiana Pacers were involved in a spirited struggle during the season that resulted in a total of five tough, enduring games this season within just two months. Even though the Bucks won the memorable “ballgame” against them in December, the Pacers had the advantage in the regular season, winning 4 and losing 1 game. Something like this is exactly what Bucks guard Malik Beasley said back in January when he expressed his wish to play against the winner in the playoffs in order to get back at them.
Although he might have downplayed the previous incidents, especially Bobby Portis, before Game 2, his post-game remarks were distressing and showed the playoff games engaged us in an elevated debate of emotions and playoff stakes.
Comments