At times chippy, the Bucks survived with a 117-115 victory over the Indiana Pacers in Myles Turner’s return to Gainbridge Fieldhouse, where he played for 10 seasons. Giannis Antetokounmpo hit a buzzer-beating fadeaway, his first since January 2017, finishing with 33 points and boards. Pascal Siakam was the high man for the Pacers with 32.
Game Recap
Milwaukee coughed up the ball four times in the first two minutes—a recurring issue with this quad on the young season—but Indiana wasn’t necessarily
making them pay. Back-to-back triples from Turner and AJ Green ignited a 13-2 Bucks run, making it 19-9 at the first timeout. Although they went cold during the ensuing minutes, the Bucks never let it get closer than six. Despite seven first-quarter turnovers—which the Pacers only scored two off of—and five misses at the line, the Bucks led 31-22 after one. Turner had four blocks in the frame.
While Giannis exited with 4:28 left in the first, he didn’t re-enter until the 8:21 mark. Meanwhile, a too-big frontcourt of Jericho Sims, Bobby Portis, and Kyle Kuzma let Indy slice the Milwaukee advantage to three. Though Turner soon followed, the Bucks’ struggles from the field continued: they started the game 6/8 but went four for their next 19. The Pacers took their first lead at the midpoint of the quarter thanks to a 17-5 run, extending that to 22-9 and going up five. A couple buckets down low from Giannis—one on the break—soon put Milwaukee back in front with 2:45 remaining. Taurean Prince ended a streak of 12 missed threes moments later, part of a 9-0 run. While a fastbreak and-one swung it back to the Pacers, a Cole Anthony triple with 6.2 seconds on the game clock sent the Bucks into the locker room ahead 56-53. Giannis led all scorers with 19.
Both teams traded baskets after Indiana quickly tied, featuring two thunderous slams from Ryan Rollins and Giannis. Rollins and AJ Green sank consecutive looks from deep to stake Milwaukee back to a nine-point edge midway through the period. That was part of an 18-8 run, but Indy wasn’t going away easily. Milwaukee allowed an 11-2 run to a lineup of Taelon Peter, Ben Shepherd, Aaron Nesmith, Tony Bradley, and Jay Huff, nearly tying the game in the third’s waning minutes. Portis and Prince longballs stopped the bleeding in the final minute, making it 84-77 Bucks through three.
Anthony opened the fourth with a longball of his own, and Kyle Kuzma even got in on the three party as the Bucks jumped back up by 10. The second unit was much more effective starting the fourth as compared to the second, burying their first six attempts from downtown. Remember those 12 consecutive missed threes in the first half? Well, Milwaukee made eight in a row to gain their largest lead at 12. The Bucks went to zone once Giannis checked in, but the starters allowed the Pacers to cut it to five with 4:22 left. That became two thanks to a 13-3 Indiana run, and Doc Rivers called his second timeout in just a minute of gameplay. Siakam tied it at the 2:50 mark, then Gary Trent Jr. and Nesmith treys made it two again with 90 seconds to go. Siakam and AJ Green free throws—after a very ill-advised Giannis three—put the Bucks up two, but a Nesmith layup tied it at 115 with the shot clock off. But Bucks had the ball with 14.5 left, and the call was a Giannis iso. He worked the clock to under five seconds, drove on Nesmith to the FT line, then pivoted onto his back foot for a fadeaway, 16-foot game-winner as the horn sounded.
Stat That Stood Out
It’s hard to ignore the massive free-throw disparity tonight, but it wasn’t just about volume. Yes, Indiana got to the line a whopping 38 times, hitting 29 of them, but the Bucks were a terrible 13/22 (59.1%) on theirs. It wasn’t just Giannis (4/9, including an 0/2 trip late) either, as Turner, Green, and Sims also missed one of their two attempts.
