One of the greatest criticisms old heads have of the current NBA is that players are too friendly with one another. There are no rivalries anymore, they would contend. They're all pals now, and the NBA has lost the must-see television that comes with seeing teams or players that loathe each other go to war. But the Indiana Pacers and the Milwaukee Bucks may be throwing it back in a major way.

The Pacers and Bucks faced each other for the fifth time already this season on Wednesday night, with Indiana coming away as the victors in three of those games. And it seems like the memory of the Pacers' sole defeat to the Bucks still rings vividly in their heads, especially when that was when the infamous game ball incident occurred.

With the Pacers wrapping up their 142-130 victory in the final two minutes of the game, Tyrese Haliburton and company were already in a state of jubilee after Myles Turner punctuated proceedings with a three-ball. After Turner's postmortem three against the Bucks, Haliburton yelled “get 'em outta here” as he implored the crowd to scream from the top of their lungs to pile on Milwaukee's misery.

The Pacers are feeling themselves right now, and why wouldn't they? They just cemented their superiority over their division rival Bucks this season, and they compounded Milwaukee's malaise by defeating them twice in three nights. Moreover, the Pacers extended their winning streak to five as they continue their rise atop the Eastern Conference standings.

But of course, no one will ever forget the fact that Giannis Antetokounmpo's rampage in the name of retrieving the game ball for his career-night against the Pacers. This, certainly, gave Tyrese Haliburton and company additional motivation to stick it to the Bucks on consecutive occasions.

These victories over the Bucks are also a testament to the Pacers' ability to adjust; during Antetokounmpo's 64-point night, the Greek Freak simply got whatever he wanted in the paint. Indiana did a much better job on Antetokounmpo during their two most recent outings, and there's no reason for them not to bring their A-game whenever they face Milwaukee, as this is shaping up to be one of the league's greatest rivalries at present.