"Writing cheques for Giannis and Lillard to cash": Malik Beasley's 'not so pretty' playoffs warning for Pacers has NBA fans wheezing

Malik Beasley and the Milwaukee Bucks are surprisingly 1-4 this season against the Indiana Pacers. One of those losses came in the semi-finals of the NBA In-Season Tournament where Tyrese Haliburton mocked them with the “Dame Time” celebration. Since then, the two teams have been going at each other with gusto.

Milwaukee had a three-game winning run heading into their New Year’s Day game against Indiana. Despite playing in front of a rowdy crowd, the Pacers didn’t wilt under pressure and walked away with a 122-113 win.

The rematch on Indy’s court on Jan. 3 was more of the same as the Pacers cruised to a 142-130 win. Milwaukee desperately tried to win Game 5 in the season series but Indiana, led by Tyrese Haliburton, just has their number.

Malik Beasley, however, is unfazed. He guarantees a series win by the Milwaukee Bucks if they meet the Indiana Pacers in the playoffs.

X/Twitter fans promptly reacted to his bold declaration:

“Malik Beasley writing cheques for Giannis and Lillard to cash”

Here’s what Milwaukee’s starting shooting guard had to say to Haynes about the Indiana Pacers:

“Their whole team [Pacers], to me, is unorthodox. Even the way Haliburton shoots, how he plays, [he is] not your average point guard, either. He is 6-6 and doing whatever he does.

“There’s certain teams who just got your number. We’re still trying to figure it out because I know we’re going to play them in the playoffs, and boy, it’s not going to be pretty for them.”

In the Milwaukee Bucks’ lone win this season, Giannis Antetokounmpo erupted for a franchise-record 64 points. The Bucks are in trouble if they badly need the two-time MVP to score a ton of points to beat the Indiana Pacers.

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Malik Beasley and Bucks will need to play better defense to beat Pacers

The Milwaukee Bucks started the season with a bottom-five team on the defensive end. They struggled to string stops together even against teams they would usually dominate in the past. Their offense has to consistently carry them through.

They have slowly improved, but there is much work to be done. Damian Lillard and Malik Beasley have been hunted on the defensive end. Khris Middleton isn’t much better defensively, either. Giannis Antetokounmpo and Brook Lopez, two of the best defenders, have been put under a ton of pressure to stop rim attacks.

Milwaukee’s poor defense is giving teams chances to beat them. In the Bucks’ 125-121 win over the San Antonio Spurs on Thursday, they barely held on to beat the young Spurs. They had to have another big night from Antetokounmpo to escape with a victory.

If the Bucks’ defense does not significantly improve, Malik Beasley’s bold guarantee will not age well in the playoffs.