The second game between the Milwaukee Bucks and the Indiana Pacers produced a second round of fireworks.
Game 2 on Tuesday between Milwaukee and Indiana got heated from the very first quarter. With just under two minutes left in the period, Pacers star Pascal Siakam missed a close-range shot and was trying to corral his own rebound. He ended up flat on the ground though after Bucks guard Gary Trent Jr. swiped down hard at the ball, resulting in Siakam immediately popping up to confront Trent (before the two were separated). Here is the clip.
Trent was called for a loose ball foul on the play and was also issued a technical foul by the officials upon review. Pacers guard Bennedict Mathurin was given a tech as well for rushing in and pushing Trent after the initial scrum.
Another incident occurred earlier in the first quarter too when Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton exchanged words with Bucks counterpart Damian Lillard, who was making his 2025 playoff debut after missing time due to a blood-clot issue. Haliburton and Lillard have a long history of animosity (including in Game 1 of the series when Lillard was in street clothes) and went at it with each other again on Tuesday in a sequence where they both traded baskets.
The Bucks and the Pacers really do not like each other at this point. It was Indiana who ended Milwaukee’s season last year, defeating them in six games during the first round. The Pacers also eliminated the Bucks in the 2023 NBA In-Season Tournament, ruffling some feathers with their antics towards the Bucks along the way.
Even during their meetings in the regular season, the Bucks and the Pacers have had more heated altercations with one another (including the notorious Giannis Antetokounmpo game ball drama last season). Now the hostilities are only increasing with the two teams facing each other in another best-of-seven playoff series.
