Bad blood is simmering between the Bucks and the Pacers.
The first-round NBA playoff series, which leads 2-0 after Indiana shot both games at home, features a constant jarring between the team and several technical fouls.
And Pacers guard Ty Halliburton didn’t write down words after his team won Game 2 123-115 on Tuesday night.
“We don’t have to sit here and act like it’s a secret,” Halliburton told reporters. According to ESPN. “We don’t like them. They don’t like us. That’s exactly what it is.
“And I think they live for this, we live for this, so I could have done it [not] Careless. I’m just here trying to help my team win the game. ”
Halliburton and Bucks guard Damian Lillard were swinging against each other between each of the first two games. Lillard returned to the lineup and scored 14 points in 37 minutes in Game 2.
“It’s just our competitors,” Halliburton added. “He wants to win, I want to win. It’s at the highest level. We’re at the highest level in the most controversial moments in the playoffs.”
The team also squared in the first round of last year’s playoffs, with Pacer winning six games before snatching the Knicks in the Eastern Conference semi-finals.
Pacer forward Pascal Siakam also briefly brawled with backswing Gary Trent Jr. after falling to the floor in the first quarter of Game 2 in search of a loose ball. Trent and Indiana’s Benedict Maturin evaluated technical fouls after the altercation
There was also a post-match conflict between teams over Giannis Anteto Compo, trying to secure a game ball following a 64-point game during the regular season.
“It feels like there’s a lot of hostility and a lot of interaction,” Antetocompo said Tuesday. “But I’m trying to get away from it. I’m trying to get away from it as much as I can and focus on what I have to do to help the team win.
“I think a lot of people know that about me, but I really don’t care what people are thinking or what they don’t care. [the Pacers] Thinking, and what we are thinking? I really don’t care. My way of thinking right now is Game 3. We know F-King’s deal, guys. I just know the trade. I know what I have to do. ”
Halliburton added that he doesn’t expect the chip to dissipate when the series moves to Milwaukee for Game 3 on Friday night.
“I’m sure I’ll continue to watch it throughout the course of the series,” Halliburton said. “Everyone says that the league’s rivals are no longer here, well, it’s here, so this is an interesting series.
“We’ve played each other million times over the past two years, we’ve seen all the different coverage they can throw at us, and we probably feel the same way about us. [left]there are many games to play. So I’m sure there will be more intense moments, more competitive moments. ”
