The Indiana Pacers are on to the second round of the 2025 NBA playoffs after eliminating the Milwaukee Bucks in stunning fashion on Tuesday night. After trailing by as many as 20, and by seven with less than 40 seconds to play, the Pacers stormed back to take Game 5 of their first-round series, 119-118 in overtime.
The Pacers will now play the No. 1 overall seed Cleveland Cavaliers. The schedule for that series is yet to be announced.
Before that matchup gets underway, here’s a look back at how the Pacers completed their miraculous comeback, which, at 20 points, was the biggest in franchise history in postseason play.
Bucks use new starting lineup, get off to a strong start
With Damian Lillard sidelined due to a torn Achilles tendon, which occurred early in Game 4, the Bucks had no choice but to change the starting lineup. Coach Doc Rivers did not just make a like-for-like change, though. He completely shook things up and brought in Kevin Porter Jr., A.J. Green and Bobby Portis for their first starts of the series alongside Gary Trent Jr. and Giannis Antetokounmpo.
The Bucks, playing with desperation, came out on fire and built an early double-digit lead against a listless Pacers team that seemed like they were expecting an easy night at the office. After the first quarter, the Bucks were up by 17, and they pushed their advantage to 20 early in the second.
Pacers respond to close half
To little surprise, the Pacers responded. As well as the Bucks played in the first quarter, the Pacers also shot 4 of 17 from the field in the opening frame, and there was little chance that would continue against a shorthanded Bucks team that had struggled on defense all series.
Sure enough, the Pacers had the deficit down to six at halftime, and took the lead by the middle of the third quarter. There were multiple points in the second half where it seemed like the Pacers would pull away, but to the Bucks’ credit they refused to quit and kept hitting shots.
We go to overtime
With less than a minute to play in regulation, the Bucks took a four-point lead on a bucket by Giannis Antetokounmpo. That probably should have been enough, but Indiana’s Tyrese Haliburton scored on two straight possessions, including an uncontested dunk with 10.8 seconds to play. Down on the other end of the floor, Antetokounmpo missed a fadeaway at the buzzer that would have won the game.
A stunning collapse and Haliburton heroics
The Pacers jumped in front first in the extra frame, before Trent decided to take over. The veteran shooting guard, who rescued the Bucks with a a 37-point game earlier in the series, hit four 3-pointers in a two minute-and-23-second span to get to eight 3s and 33 points overall.
Trent’s hot streak helped the Bucks build a seven-point lead, 118-111, with 40 seconds to play. Again, that should have been enough. Unfortunately, Trent giveth and Trent taketh away.
After Andrew Nembhard hit a quick 3-pointer to cut the deficit to four, Trent threw a bad pass that was picked off by Nembhard. Down on the other end, Haliburton got to the rim for an and-one after an ill-advised foul by Green. That cut the deficit to one, but the shot clock was off with 17 seconds to go.
The Pacers were going to have to foul, but first they played for a steal. They were unable to get one in the backcourt, and the Bucks actually handled the initial pressure well. Green found Trent alone on the sideline, but the ball just slipped through his hands, bounced through his legs and went out of bounds, giving the ball back to Indiana with 10.1 seconds on the clock.
With the game on the line, the Pacers gave the ball to Haliburton, who cooked Antetokounmpo in isolation and got all the way to the rim for a game-winner with 1.3 seconds left. Haliburton’s layup was the latest overtime series-clinching shot in play-by-play era and the ninth series-clinching shot in the last two seconds of a game.
Haliburton finished with 26 points, five rebounds, nine assists, three steals and three blocks in an incredible all-around performance.
A post-game scrum
These two teams do not like each other and have a contentious history.
“We don’t have to sit here and act like it’s any secret,” Haliburton said after Game 1. “We don’t like them, they don’t like us and that’s just what it is.”
All of that emotion spilled out after the game when the two teams got into a scuffle.
Even Haliburton’s dad got involved. He was on the court and said something to Antetokounmpo, who finished with 30 points, 20 rebounds, 13 assists, two steals and two blocks for a monster triple-double. He was, understandably, upset about being approached by an opponent’s family member and the two came face-to-face and exchanged words.
The young Haliburton didn’t agree with how his father acted, saying postgame: “I don’t think my pops was in the right.”
It’s unclear if there will be any sort of penalties handed out by the league for the altercation.
