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Jamal Collier, ESPN
ORLANDO — The Milwaukee Bucks will enter the NBA playoffs as the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference and face the Indiana Pacers in the first round.
The Bucks fell to the 3-seed after they were blown out by the Orlando Magic 113-88 in Sunday’s regular-season finale, which earned them a matchup with a familiar foe. Milwaukee dropped four of its five games with Indiana this season, including a loss in the in-season tournament in November.
“Indiana has had our number all year, so perfect opponent,” Bucks coach Doc Rivers said. “They’ve played great against us. They have great confidence against us. We’ll have great focus because we’re going to have to.”
Although the Bucks and Pacers played five times during the regular season, their last meeting was on Jan. 3. Rivers did not take over as Bucks coach until Jan. 29, so he said he still needed to study film of those games to figure out why the Bucks struggled.
“We’ve just been through a lot since then,” Damian Lillard said. “We’ve had some down moments and we’ve come back from those moments. Then we get a new coach and then we have a different way about us, different style of play.
“Just so many different things we’ve learned about ourselves from going through stuff.”
The matchups between the Pacers and Bucks carried some extra intensity, especially after they faced off on Dec. 13 and argued over possession of the game ball. Giannis Antetokounmpo wanted the ball after scoring a career-high 64 points. The Pacers wanted it to give to rookie Oscar Tshiebwe, who scored his first NBA point that night.
Lillard emphasized it was important for the Bucks to control their emotions in the upcoming series and focus on their ultimate goal of winning a championship.
“It’s important for us to understand what our purpose is playing in the playoffs,” Lillard said. “We got to be responsible when it comes to that. We can’t be overly emotional about it because in the playoffs, that can change a series. You get too emotional, you can be taken advantage of.”
The Bucks have backed into the playoffs, losing their final two games with a chance go wrap up the No. 2 seed, and eight of their final 11.
“It’s important for us to understand what our purpose is playing in the playoffs. We got to be responsible when it comes to that. We can’t be overly emotional about it because in the playoffs, that can change a series. You get too emotional, you can be taken advantage of.”
Damian Lillard
“It’s a new season with the postseason,” Bucks forward Khris Middleton said. “At the same time you don’t want to leave it in the past. You want to look at those games and figure out what went wrong and find a way to correct it.”
The Bucks will also enter the postseason unsure of the status of Antetokounmpo, who missed the final three games of the regular season with a calf strain. The two-time MVP did not make the trip to Orlando and instead remained in Milwaukee for rest and treatment.
Rivers said ahead of Sunday’s game that the reports he received on Antetokounmpo were all positive.
“We just have to wait and see,” Rivers said. “I don’t know one way or the other, I just know he’s doing all the work. We’re getting great reports. Yesterday, he did everything. That was positive. That’s all we can get right now.”