Forget what happened between these teams in 2023–24. Just forget it. Patrick Beverley isn’t here to throw a ball at Pacers fans (heh), nor is Khris Middleton to become a human flamethrower (sigh). Danilo Gallinari and Jae Crowder aren’t on the Bucks (yay), Kyle Kuzma (eek) is. Damian Lillard is probably not going to appear in the series (dammit), Giannis Antetokoumpo will be on the court from the jump (hallelujah).
Otherwise, the Pacers are pretty similar. The Bucks replaced playoff pumpkins like Crowder and Malik Beasley with three very effective role players in Gary Trent Jr., Kevin Porter Jr.