Huge second half leads Pacers to 139-123 victory over Bucks

The Indiana Pacers snapped a 10-game losing streak to the Milwaukee Bucks on Thursday night at Fiserv Forum, winning 139-123.

It is just the third loss for the Bucks since Jan. 23, and they fell to 50-20 on the year. The Pacers won for the third time in their last four games to improve to 32-38.

Pacers have big second half to topple Bucks

With 12 players available – and Giannis Antetokounmpo in early foul trouble – Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer went 10 deep to outlast the Pacers. The starters of Antetokounmpo, Khris Middleton, Jrue Holiday, Bobby Portis and Pat Connaughton led the way as they all reached double figures in scoring, and Joe Ingles Meyers Leonard, Jevon Carter and Wesley Matthews also scored off the bench.

Milwaukee assisted on 26 of their 46 field goals and attacked the paint (66) on their way to shooting 54.1% from the floor when the regulars were in. At one point late in the third quarter, they were making shots at a 61% clip – despite being just 8 for 22 (36%) from behind the three-point line at that point.

All were signs that the Bucks might win, but they were never really able to distance themselves from the Pacers despite building several double-digit leads through the first three quarters.

That was because, like Milwaukee, Indiana got everyone involved on the offensive end as eight players reached double figures.

Indiana used two different 11-0 runs in the third quarter to take a 104-101 lead into the fourth. The rallies were fueled by a 9-for-11 performance from behind the three-point line, which propelled them to a 49-point quarter.

The Pacers opened the fourth with a 13-3 run that gave them a 117-107 lead the Bucks were chasing from there.

“They had a little bit of everything but it felt like they were able to drive us, they were able to get to the paint and finish; it felt like at a high rate there,” Budenholzer said of the decisive stretch in the early fourth quarter. “It felt like if we ever overhelped or committed a second person to the ball they found shooters and shooters made shots. And I think the transition (defense), it felt like we had a turnover or two mixed in there to start the quarter, so they had a little bit of everything offensively. I didn’t feel like we fouled them, but they had everything else.”

In that final period, Indiana’s Andrew Nembhard (24 points), Aaron Nesmith (22), TJ McConnell (19) and George Hill (15) kept hitting shots and Milwaukee couldn’t make enough stops down the stretch to come back.

“Honestly I feel like they played well, especially that second half,” Holiday said. “The last time we played them they kind of did the same thing. They played fast, they play kind of random, they get downhill and they make threes. They played well.”

Foul trouble slows Giannis Antetokounmpo

Antetokounmpo spent the bulk of the first half as a spectator for the Bucks, and his second half was impacted with early foul calls in the third and fourth quarters. And with defensive player of the year candidate Brook Lopez sidelined with an ankle injury, Antetokounmpo's prolonged stints on the bench impacted not only his game, but the Bucks'.

He played just 10 first half minutes while the Bucks built a 64-55 lead at the break. He was 4 for 7 for nine points and had six rebounds and two assists but had to sit and watch the final eight minutes of the second half after picking up three quick fouls.

Coming out of the half, he made his presence felt early in the third quarter.

He immediately attacked Indiana center Myles Turner and drew two fouls on back-to-back plays, and then Middleton and Holiday found him for alley-oops through traffic on consecutive possessions after that to help the Bucks take a 10-point lead.

But, he drew his fourth foul in that series of plays as well, and would earn his fifth early in the fourth quarter. With that, the Pacers attacked the paint more and took a more physical approach with Antetokounmpo on offense to take a 12-point lead about halfway through the fourth quarter.

The punctuation came when Turner dunked on Antetokounmpo to make it 136-120 Pacers with 2:13 to go, at which point Budenholzer pulled his starters.

BOX SCORE: Pacers 139, Bucks 123

Antetokounmpo finished with 25 points, nine rebounds and five assists in 26 minutes. He made 10 of his 17 shots but was 5 for 10 from the free throw line. He acknowledged the timing of the fouls played a role in affecting how he could impact the game.

“It did," Antetokounmpo said. "It did because there was times that I couldn’t be as aggressive as I want to be. Obviously they were a team that tried to get a lot of charge(s). I could see them whenever I was coming down, they were trying to set behind their defense.

"Defensively, they tried to get into my chest every opportunity they got, get into me, try to get my sixth one, fifth one, whatever the case might be. But at the end of the day, you just gotta, you know, play through it.”

He exited the game with the Bucks head 44-40 and the Pacers tied the game shortly after he exited, but the team closed on a 20-11 run over the final seven minutes of the half.

“There’s no doubt Giannis’ foul situation made it more difficult on him especially, more difficult on us,” Budenholzer said. “But he and us gotta learn from it, be better, but they were good. They attacked us. They got to the paint, they got threes, they were very good.”

Five numbers

22 Three-pointers made by the Pacers, who shot 47.8% from deep.

12-0 First and second quarter points for Indiana sharpshooter Buddy Hield. Hield scored a dozen in the opening frame to keep the Pacers connected, but he attempted just one shot in the second quarter. He finished with 20 for the game.

46 Seconds, a stretch in which Antetokounmpo was called for three fouls in the second quarter. He picked up his third with 7:58 to go, so he sat until halftime.

84 Second half points for the Pacers, who flipped a 14-point deficit to a 16-point victory.

Middleton: “They’re one of the fastest teams out there, they play very random with guys just driving, driving and kicking, that’s what they did all night. Couldn’t find a way to keep them out of the paint to avoid the kickout threes.”

2/12/2020 The last time the Pacers beat the Bucks, a 118-111 victory at Fiserv Forum.

Tyrese Haliburton misses another homecoming

The Indiana all-star and Oshkosh native rolled an ankle in a recent practice and the Pacers star was not only ruled out for the game against the Bucks, the next handful for his team by head coach Rick Carlisle. Haliburton, who is averaging 20.8 points and 10.4 assists per game in his breakout season, has missed all three games against the Bucks this season.

Jordan Nwora faces former team

The 24-year-old wing faced his former team for the first time as a member of the Pacers. As part of a trade deadline deal with Brooklyn, Phoenix and Indiana that brought Jae Crowder to Milwaukee, Nwora ended up with the Pacers. Heading into Thursday's game, he had been averaging a career-high 12 points in 21.3 minutes per game for the Pacers.

"This is a really good opportunity for him," Carlisle said. "He's got a real knack for getting the ball in the basket. He can do it off catch-and-shoot, he can do it off the dribble, he can do it off floaters."

The Pacers were without not only Haliburton, but fellow guards Ben Mathurin (16.6 points per game) and Chris Duarte (8.0 points per game) against the Bucks, which gave Nwora the start and a greater opportunity to show out against the team that drafted him in the second round of Louisville in 2020.

But, he saw Middleton and Wesley Matthews across from him for most of the game. Nwora had just four first half points on 2 of 5 shooting in 19 minutes, but he finished with 12 points and was 2 for 3 from behind the three-point line in the second half when the Pacers took the lead.

His catch-and-shoot three with 57.7 seconds left in the third quarter gave the Pacers a 102-101 lead, and they enver trailed after that.

Play of the game is George Hill's fourth quarter three

The Pacers took a 112-105 lead early in the fourth quarter, which forced the Bucks to call timeout to try and stem the tide. But then former Bucks guard George Hill came out of the break and knocked down a three-pointer, giving his team a 115-105 lead with 10:05 to go. Normally, that is more than enough time for the Bucks to come back, but with Antetokounmpo in foul trouble and the Pacers playing tough, it would prove to be the backbreaker for the best team in the East.

Video of the game is Meyers Leonard's dunk in traffic

With Lopez out and Antetokounmpo in foul trouble, the Bucks turned to the 7-foot Leonard early in the game and he filled some space in the post nicely off a nifty overhead pass by Jrue Holiday that led to a ferocious dunk over two Pacers defenders. Leonard had six points in the paint in the first half, which gave the Bucks a 38-20 advantage in that area despite the fact that Antetokounmpo played just 10 minutes.

Bucks injury report

• Brook Lopez (left ankle soreness), outMiddleton: “Brook wasn’t back there cleaning up a lot of those mistakes that we’ve had."Holiday: "I think Brook covers up a lot of mistakes that we make, having him out there. Not having him out there it’s tough, but at the end of the day we have guys who step up and who can take on that challenge. I think we did well for a half. Maybe tried to withstand it for maybe, like, until the half of the third quarter. But again man, they play fast. They play fast, makes, misses, they get it out. Our rim protector wasn’t necessarily in there and us going small they took advantage of that.”

• Jae Crowder (left calf soreness), out

• Goran Dragić (left knee soreness), out

• Grayson Allen (right plantar fascia soreness), out

• Thanasis Antetokounmpo (not with team), out

Who do the Bucks play next?

The Bucks get a couple days off before hosting the Toronto Raptors at 7 p.m. Sunday at Fiserv Forum. The Raptors are under .500 but are still in the mix for the play-in tournament, so Nick Nurse’s team comes in needing to win to keep their postseason hopes alive. They are led by all-star Pascal Siakam and guard Fred VanVleet. OG Anunoby and Scottie Barnes are also having good seasons for the Raptors.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Huge second half leads Pacers to 139-123 victory over Bucks