Instead, he and his teammates feel like they're on a mission to show last season's trip to the Eastern Conference finals was no fluke. In fact, they believe they can make an even deeper run this year.

It’s not because the Indiana Pacers won 50 games for the first time since 2013-14 or will host Game 1 of a playoff series for the first time since that season, or even that he’s making consecutive postseason appearances for the first time in his career.

These teams combined to win 15 of their last 16 regular-season games. Can Giannis Antetokounmpo carry the Bucks past a deep Pacers squad?

The Eastern Conference’s fourth-seeded Indiana Pacers (50-32) will face the fifth-seeded Milwaukee Bucks (48-34) in the first round of the 2025 NBA playoffs. This is a rematch of a first-round series from last season, when the sixth-seeded Pacers upset their third-seeded Central Division rivals, 4-2.