The Milwaukee Bucks and Indiana Pacers have been butting heads over the last few years, igniting a new rivalry in the Eastern Conference. The fireworks are just getting started after Myles Turner left Indiana to sign with Milwaukee, switching sides out of nowhere. Andrew Nembhard, Turner's former teammate in Indiana, recently revealed his thoughts on the move and how it impacts things while speaking on Hello and Welcome.
"I mean, at the end of the day, I want to see him do well, you know? Glad he got paid, and wishing him success in the future... not against us.
But for himself. I think it just builds into the rivalry that we already got going. You know, it’s going to be an exciting matchup this year. It’s going to get even better than before. Now that we’re not on the same team anymore."
Bucks-Pacers rivalry is just getting started
The rivalry will look incredibly different next season compared to its inception over the previous two NBA seasons.
First off, Damian Lillard, Khris Middleton, and Brook Lopez are gone. The Bucks are set to field a much younger, more athletic roster, just like the one Indiana has beaten them with over the last two playoff matchups. The age of the roster wasn't the sole factor in Milwaukee's consecutive defeats, but it was certainly partially to blame as the energetic Pacers ran them out of the building.
There's also the Tyrese Haliburton angle. The guard suffered a crushing Achilles tear in the NBA Finals and will be out for all of next season. While that certainly takes some of the wind out of the sails in this rivalry for next season, there's still plenty to get excited about. The Pacers will not simply lie down and be the NBA's punching bag. They will still find ways to give teams a run for their money.
Of course, Milwaukee also stealing Indiana's starting center was quite the twist. There will certainly be a target on his back when these two teams play, and he will hear it from the crowd when he returns to Indiana as a visitor for the first time in his NBA career. It won't take too long for that to happen, as the Milwaukee Bucks will visit them on November 3 in their seventh game of the season.
There's no telling what kind of storylines will stem from these games next season. This rivalry has been as unpredictable as they come on a game-by-game basis, which is what makes it one of the most intriguing in the entire NBA. The Turner angle alone makes every matchup between these two teams next season worth the price of admission.
Only time will tell how things look in the spring, but it would be something if these teams found a way to meet in the playoffs for the third straight year.
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