No trap game: Pacers secure a mature victory, take a 3-1 series lead over the undermanned Bucks with a flurry of three-balls

A grown-up victory for Indiana, who now looks to end things Tuesday in Milwaukee. Big nights for Tyrese Haliburton, Myles Turner, Andrew Nembhard and others.

The playoffs are supposed to be a slog, a slow, physical mystery dance even in an NBA age when scoring is going through the roof and everybody is shooting, and making, a boatload of three-point shots. Points go down in the postseason. Bruises go up. Everybody knows what the opponent is doing, making defense a high priority, sending scoring plummeting.

Well, nobody told the Indiana Pacers, the highest scoring team this past regular season and a team that has scored 120-or-more points three times in four games against the disintegrating Milwaukee Bucks. The Pacers, who now have a three games to one lead over the Bucks after Sunday night’s 126-113 Game 4 victory at Gainbridge, are running and gunning in this series the way they have all season. Three times in four games, the Pacers have totaled 30-or-more assists, something no other team has come close to accomplishing this postseason.

This is the way to beat the creaky Bucks, the oldest team in the NBA, a team that lacks speed and athleticism, especially with Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard not currently in the lineup. And the Pacers are getting in their head, having now beaten them seven of nine times this season and showing no sign of taking a foot off the Bucks’ neck.

“Game 1, they dictated tempo,” said Tyrese Haliburton, who had his best shooting game of the series, hitting five of 12 3’s and scoring 24 points. “The story of the last three (games) has been that we have (controlled tempo) and that comes from who gets the most (defensive) stops. We decided after Game 1 that no matter what, we were going to dictate the pace, run on makes and misses. That’s how we created our identity the whole year. People know we’re pushing (the basketball).

“In a league that says, `Oh, you can’t play fast in the playoffs,’ we don’t believe in that. We’re going to be who we are. We’re going to stick with our identity and put our imprint on the game.”

This was a grown-up, mature victory by the Pacers, who have a bit of a history when it comes to playing down to the competition. They go toe-to-toe with elite teams, but stumble against the likes of Charlotte, Portland and other bottom-feeders. With Antetokounmpo having missed their entire series this far, and with Lillard missing Game 4 and likely missing more in the near future, the Pacers were looking at the ultimate trap game. All the pressure was on Indiana to win this game.

Mission accomplished.