Basketball, She Wrote
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Pacers make Game 1 look (Nemb)easy -- w/ Caitlin & Samson
🕑 Added 2025-04-20 20:37:20 +0000 UTCMy work at Basketball, She Wrote is typically paywalled. This video podcast with Samson Folk, breaking down how the Pacers took advantage of homecourt advantage, is available as a free trial for everyone. If you're new here and want to support independent writing about actual basketball, please consider subscribing and/or sharing it around. Alright, onto the spoken and written words about the Pacers
By: Caitlin Cooper I @C2_Cooper
Leading by as many as 28 points in what became a 117-98 win over the Milwaukee Bucks, you might say the Pacers made Game 1 look (Nemb)easy. For the game, they outscored the Bucks 22-5 in fast-break points, while also limiting the Bucks to only eight offensive rebounds. On the season, the Pacers are 10-5 when their opponent grabs eight or fewer offensive rebounds. Meanwhile, Indiana committed fewer than 10 turnovers for the twelfth time this season. Just by those numbers alone, this game had blowout written all over it.
Then, add to it that, while Giannis Antetokounmpo amassed 36 points, he was held to only 8.5 potential assists per 100 chances -- down from 13.069 during the regular season and 13.314 in games against the Pacers. Needless to say, with the exception of Milwaukee's small-ball lineup, featuring Kevin Porter Jr., Gary Trent Jr., AJ Green, and Bobby Portis with Giannis, which was plus-4 in 15.6 minutes played despite shooting just 4-of-14 from three, almost everything came up Pacers in Game 1.
As such, Samson Folk is here to share his thoughts on the dominant Game 1 performance while also looking ahead to what changes should be expected from the Bucks in Game 2. Enjoy!
Here are the relevant timestamps:
0:00 - Introductions
2:23 - How did the Pacers double Giannis while also limiting his playmaking? (i.e. his potential assists were way down by comparison to the regular season)
5:11 - Andrew Nembhard isn't just a terrific on-ball defender; he's also terrific away from the ball (Nobody said it would be Nembeasy!)
10:00 - Mathurin and Walker looked the part in playoff debuts
14:45 - Improved ball-handling/patience from Nembhard against ICE coverage + highlighting Turner's flashes to the the top of the key against Milwaukee's zone
17:03 - Still, the Pacers will probably see more zone
19:16 - Managing the toll on Siakam by dialing back the full-court pressure against Giannis as the bring-up ball-handler + Siakam salvaging broken plays
22:56 - Are the Bucks going to keep starting Kuzma and Prince?
26:15 - What else can the Pacers try against Milwaukee's shallow action + containing Kevin Porter Jr. at the point of attack
36:09 - Will the Bucks play the KPJ-GTJ-AJ-Giannis-Portis lineup more + film breakdown on Indiana's late-game wedge rolls
46:49 - S/O Danny Green and Danny Green cuts
49:00 - Samson teaches Caitlin about Pokemon
50:29 - Milwaukee didn't crash the glass or limit fast-break points for the Pacers, something has to give, right?
55:42 - Offensive rebounding + tagging up as a transition defense scheme
58:15 - Nembhard's decel step against Lopez
1:00:50 - Being descriptive rather than predictive
1:07:12 - Another Dune reference enters the chat + Caitlin shames Samson for never reading her book recommendation
1:10:16 - Thank you and Goodbye!
Comments
L0nster
He pulled the chair on Mitchell again at 10:26 of the first quarter...
PaversPaveToThePave
Basketball she wrote off-season book club? π
Caitlin Cooper
I remembered that clip while we were talking because, at the time, I was impressed that Nwora and G. Hill could pull that off in their first game with a new team. I also hadn't seen much "next" coverage on shallow cuts. So, I kept it -- just in case.
Eric Joseph Leffler
Holy crap, Caitlin! How do you just pull random clips like that one from the George Hill, Jordan Nwora - era tanking Pacers?! I think I've heard you say that you've got like an external hard drive or something, but are you labeling the clip files like super specifically so that you can find them more easily? I know you're a genius and all, but I assume it's not ALL just from your memory
