Giannis Antetokounmpo had 34 points and 10 rebounds as the Milwaukee Bucks held off the visiting Indiana Pacers 126-119 Saturday night.
The win could prove crucial in NBA playoff tiebreakers. The teams entered the game tied for fourth place in the Eastern Conference. Milwaukee (38-28) won the season series over the Pacers (37-29), taking three of the four matchups.
The win also moved the Bucks to 25-1 this season when they score 120 points or more.
Damian Lillard had 25 points for the Bucks and was 6-for-12 from 3-point range. The Bucks went 25 of 26 from the free-throw line.
Aaron Nesmith had a career-high 30 points for the Pacers and Pascal Siakam had 26.
The Bucks never trailed after the first quarter and led by 13 with 3:48 left to play, but Antetokounmpo fouled out at the 2:46 mark and the Pacers went on a run, cutting the lead to four on a Siakam dunk with 19 seconds to go. Taurean Prince sealed it for the Bucks with four late free throws. Prince also had a career-high five steals to go with his 14 points.
Milwaukee set the tempo early, racing out to a 13-9 lead before the Pacers answered with back-to-back treys by Tyrese Haliburton and a 3-pointer by Myles Turner to take an 18-15 lead. But Milwaukee would shoot 70 percent in the first quarter. The Bucks led 38-30 after one and then opened the second quarter on an 11-0 run to push the lead to 19 after another long 3-pointer by Lillard.
Siakam slowly brought the Pacers back. He scored 17 points in the second quarter as the Pacers whittled the lead down to 65-60 at halftime. Haliburton, who started to hear boos from the Fiserv Forum crowd in the first half, finished with 10 points in the half and 24 in the game.
Antetokounmpo led the Bucks with 18 first-half points on 9-for-10 shooting. Bucks reserve guard Jericho Sims missed most of the first half with a sprained thumb. He played 11 minutes and did not score.
It was the second game for the Pacers in as many nights.
–Field Level Media
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