Pacers seek to make Game 2 more difficult for Bucks as NBA playoff teams focus on defensive effort

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — After seeing Indiana's defense stifle the Milwaukee Bucks' shooters, Pacers coach Rick Carlisle made it clear to his team that it needs to be even better in Game 2.

Yes, even in an NBA era defined by pace, spacing and 3-point shooting on offense, Carlisle knows postseason success usually comes down to defense.

The Pacers' performance in Saturday's first-round playoff series opener looked better on paper than it apparently did to Carlisle.

Milwaukee made 9 of 37 3-pointers (24.3%) after leading the league at 38.7% during the regular season and finished 17 1/2 points below its scoring average despite getting 36 points and 12 rebounds from two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo. The problem: Milwaukee's four other starters totaled 14 points and two of them failed to score.

“Giannis got to the basket too much,” Carlisle said after his team's 117-98 victory. “We're trying to build walls and he's still getting there. He's a great player and great players cause collateral problems, so it's not a surprise. We fouled them a lot, too, and we've got to cut down on the fouls.”

The message that good is not good enough seemed to catch on during the first weekend of the playoffs.

Houston, the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference, had a season low in scoring during an old-school, grind-it-out 95-85 loss to No. 7 Golden State on Sunday. The Warriors can take a 2-0 lead Wednesday — if they can replicate their defensive performance.

The West's top seed, Oklahoma City, put on a defensive clinic against Memphis in a 131-80 blowout Sunday. The Grizzlies shot 34.4% from the field, were 6 of 34 on 3s and committed 22 turnovers, prompting some observers to question Memphis' effort. Game 2 is Tuesday.

The solution, at least in the Bucks' case, sounds simple.

“We’ve just got to be more decisive with the ball. That’s pretty much it,” Antetokounmpo said Saturday. “When the ball gets to your hand, shoot the ball or create an opportunity to the advantage of the next player. If you don’t have a shot, that means you can get downhill and if you get downhill either you finish or you pass the ball.”

That's the beauty of these playoff chess matches.

With days off and sometimes multiple days off between games and the same matchups repeatedly playing out, coaches and players have ample time to practice, make adjustments, change assignments and switch strategies.

The intrigue in each successive contest, such as the Pacers-Bucks matchup Tuesday in Indianapolis, explains why Carlisle has been telling his team it will be “monumentally” more difficult to take a 2-0 lead than it was to win Game 1.

“I think the odds of them shooting that poorly from 3 probably aren’t that high as the series goes on,” Pacers All-Star Tyrese Haliburton said. “I think we’ve done a great job of showing our pressure up on the floor. We’re just trying to keep flying around, making the extra effort because I feel like the basketball gods will reward you for the harder you play.”

Bucks coach Doc Rivers could get some help on that front if nine-time All-Star guard Damian Lillard returns. Lillard hasn't played since March 18 as he recovers from deep vein thrombosis in his right calf. He was upgraded to questionable on Monday.

A year ago, he averaged 31.3 points per game against Indiana in a first-round series that the Pacers won 4-2. Even if Lillard returns this week, his minutes may be limited.

The other solution: better defense.

“They're not going to give it to you, you've got to go out there and take it from them,” Antetokounmpo said. “For us to win the series, we've got to win on the road. So we've just got to figure out the way to win and the moment we watch film we'll figure it out.”

Center Myles Turner, the two-time league blocks champ and the Pacers' primary rim protector, concurs.

“Sometimes you've got to lose the battle to win the war,” he said when asked about defending Antetokounmpo. ”It’s playoff basketball, so it’s a matter of making it harder on them maybe than it was in the regular season or making it to their second or third options,”

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Memphis Grizzlies forward Santi Aldama, left, looks to shoot as Oklahoma City Thunder guard Isaiah Joe (11) and forward Chet Holmgren, right, defend during the first half in Game 1 of an NBA first-round playoff series, Sunday, April 20, 2025, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Nate Billings)

Memphis Grizzlies center Zach Edey, left, and Oklahoma City Thunder center Isaiah Hartenstein, right, chase the ball during the first half in Game 1 of an NBA first-round playoff series, Sunday, April 20, 2025, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Nate Billings)

Golden State Warriors forward Kevon Looney (5) blocks a shot by Houston Rockets guard Jalen Green (4) during the first half of Game 1 of an NBA basketball first-round playoff series in Houston, Sunday, April 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

Indiana Pacers' Aaron Nesmith (23) and Milwaukee Bucks' Gary Trent Jr. (5) chase a loose ball as Bucks' AJ Green, right, and Bobby Portis (9) watch during the second half of a first-round NBA basketball playoff game, Saturday, April 19, 2025, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

Milwaukee Bucks' Giannis Antetokounmpo, left, dribbles as Indiana Pacers' Andrew Nembhard (2) defends during the first half of a first-round NBA basketball playoff game, Saturday, April 19, 2025, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

CANNES, France (AP) — The 78th Cannes Film Festival is opening Tuesday with expectations running high for what could be a banner edition.

All of the ingredients — an absurd number of stars, top-tier filmmakers, political intrigue — seem to be lined up for the French Riviera spectacular. Over the next 12 days, Cannes will play host to megawatt premieres including those of “Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning,” Spike Lee’s “Highest 2 Lowest” and Ari Aster’s “Eddington.”

Things get underway Tuesday with the unveiling of Juliette Binoche’s jury, a three-film tribute to Ukraine and the opening night film, Amélie Bonnin’s French romance “Leave One Day.” At the festival’s opening ceremony, Robert De Niro will receive an honorary Palme d’Or, 49 years after “Taxi Driver” won Cannes' top prize.

Cannes is coming off a 2024 festival that produced a number of eventual Oscar contenders, including “Emilia Perez,” “The Substance,” “Flow” and the best picture winner, “Anora.” Asked if he's feeling the pressure this time around, festival director Thierry Frémaux said the only kind of pressure he believes in is in beer. (Beer on tap in France is "bière à la pression.")

“Indeed last year was a beautiful year,” Frémaux said Monday. “But at the very time when I was with (journalists) as the festival started, we didn’t know if it was going to be a good year or not.”

Cannes is kicking off the same day Gérard Depardieu, one of France’s most famous actors, was found guilty of having sexually assaulted two women on a 2021 film set. In one of France’s most prominent #MeToo cases, Depardieu was given an 18-month suspended prison sentence. The 76-year-old has long been a regular presence at Cannes.

This year’s Cannes Film Festival, the premier international cinematic gathering, is also unspooling following U.S. President Donald Trump’s call for tariffs on movies made overseas. While Frémaux expressed sympathy for the cause of strengthening local movie production, he said it was too soon to comment on the still-unformed plans.

“It’s far too early in the game,” said Frémaux. “But if I say one thing here at the Cannes Film Festival, we wouldn’t want the American cinema to cease to be strong. And right now, it’s very strong.”

Cannes will follow up Tuesday’s festivities with the return Wednesday of Tom Cruise to Cannes. Three years after he brought “Top Gun: Maverick” to the festival, he’s back with the latest “Mission: Impossible” movie.

Twenty-two films will vie for Cannes’ top prize, the Palme d’Or. Those films include Wes Anderson’s “The Phoenician Scheme,” Richard Linklater’s “Nouvelle Vague,” Lynne Ramsay’s “Die, My Love,” Joachim Trier’s “Sentimental Value,” Kelly Reichardt’s “The Mastermind,” Oliver Hermanus’ “The History of Sound,” Julia Ducournau’s “Alpha” and Jafar Panahi’s “A Simple Accident.”

Binoche will be leading the jury that picks the Palme d’Or winner, along with jurors including Halle Berry and Jeremy Strong. The festival closes May 24.

In Cannes’ Un Certain Regard section, three prominent actors are making their directorial debuts: Harris Dickinson (“Urchin”), Kristen Stewart (“The Chronology of Water”) and Scarlett Johansson (“Eleanor the Great”).

Geopolitics are likely to play a starring role at Cannes, which is beginning by screening three 2025 Ukraine documentaries: “Zelensky,” Bernard-Henri Lévy’s “Notre Guerre” and The Associated Press-Frontline coproduction “2000 Meters to Andriivka,” by “20 Days in Mariupol” Oscar-winner Mstyslav Chernov.

“This ‘Ukraine Day’ is a reminder of the commitment of artists, authors and journalists to tell the story of this conflict in the heart of Europe,” the festival said in a statement.

Cannes will also celebrate its opening by turning to an old favorite. A restoration of Charlie Chaplin's “The Gold Rush” is to debut Tuesday, timed to the film's centenary.

For more coverage of the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, visit: https://apnews.com/hub/cannes-film-festival

People enter the Carlton Hotel along the Boulevard de la Croisette ahead of the 78th international film festival in Cannes, southern France, Sunday, May 11, 2025. The Cannes film festival runs from May 13 until May 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Lewis Joly)

People walk along the Boulevard de la Croisette ahead of the 78th international film festival in Cannes, southern France, Sunday, May 11, 2025. The Cannes film festival runs from May 13 until May 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Lewis Joly)

The Palais des festivals ahead of the 78th international film festival in Cannes, southern France, Sunday, May 11, 2025. The Cannes film festival runs from May 13 until May 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Lewis Joly)

The Palais des festivals ahead of the 78th international film festival in Cannes, southern France, Sunday, May 11, 2025. The Cannes film festival runs from May 13 until May 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Lewis Joly)

The Palais des festivals ahead of the 78th international film festival in Cannes, southern France, Sunday, May 11, 2025. The Cannes film festival runs from May 13 until May 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Lewis Joly)