The Crooked NBA Needs To Cook And Give Us The Pacers Vs Bucks Playoff Matchup

With a week left in the NBA regular season, the Eastern Conference is still shifting more than the tectonic plates around New Jersey. Absolutely no one wants to play Boston, but the rest of the bracket is going to be an absolute slog of a cluster fuck where anyone can make it out alive. 

While no one wants to match up with the 1 seed Celtics at the top, the incredibly dangerous Heat & 76'ers are lurking at the bottom with the 7/8 seeds. Miami always turns it on for the playoffs, and then you have Philly who now has Embiid back in the lineup. So where is the best place for the Pacers to fall in the Eastern Conference crapshoot? 

While I don't want to see Orlando or New York, I'd rather take my chances with those teams than going anywhere near the 76ers. Embiid is Myles Turners daddy, Tyrese Maxey is ready to become a super star, and I can already see Buddy Hield going nuclear in a revenge game to put us in our grave. 

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At the start of the season, I said the Pacers ceiling was a 4-5 seed, and they'd lose in the first round of the playoffs. After Indiana went and got Pascal Siakam, the goal posts moved, and winning a playoff series was the mission. With the roster thinning at guard after injuries (I know every team is injured) and trades, I'm not as hopeful. The Pacers have proven they can beat the best teams in the league, but on any night can also get curb stomped by lesser opponents. If the Pacers go into a series with a team they match up well with, like the Cavs, Indiana could pull off the series win. That is the current scenario if the East stays exactly how it is at the moment. But Cavs vs Pacers doesn't jump off the page as exciting. Winning a series would be great for a young team who has almost no playoff experience beyond Siakam and TJ McConnell from the playin game in the covid bubble, but I need some drama.

If the Bucks could fall to the 3 seed, and the Pacers stay at the 6, that would be ideal. INJECT IT INTO MY VEINS. FEED ME THE BUCKS. These teams hate each other after Tyrese Haliburton did the Dame time celebration, and Giannis tried to fight the entire Pacers' locker room over Gameball-gate. The Bucks adding the Pat Bev to their roster since the two teams last met makes this matchup even spicier. You don't get away with disrespect with Pat Bev on the court. I need this developing rivalry to have a playoff match-up. 

Other than the exhausted Boston vs Philly, Boston vs New York story lines (which are always good because of their fans), Indiana vs Milwaukee is fresh, new, and gets people interested in two small market teams. Could the Pacers beat the Bucks in a playoff series? *Massive Tony Romo ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, I don't know Jim* Granted the Pacers were 4-1 on the earlier in the season vs the Bucks, and MIL now has  Doc Rivers at the helm. BUT, Hali has cooled off and Mathurin isn't coming off the bench where he literally played his best games vs. the Bucks. 

If the Pacers are realistically going to be in one playoff series, let's make it exciting with Pacers vs Bucks. However the crooked NBA needs to get it done, figure it out. 

Now, no more looking ahead. The playoffs essentially start tonight at 5pm for the Pacers. BEAT THE HEAT.