Finishing up their matinee back-to-back at home, the Milwaukee Bucks snapped a four-game losing streak, taking out perhaps the most unabashed tankers in NBA history, the Indiana Pacers. I copy-pasted nearly all of that sentence from last weekend’s victory over the Jazz and changed the team name. Aaron Nesmith scored a game-high 32 as his team was swept in the regular season by Milwaukee, who got 31 from Giannis Antetokounmpo and 29 from Bobby Portis.
Game Recap
You might not expect a team that
tanked their way atop the lottery standings with a 12-game losing streak to look so good from the jump. A couple Aaron Nesmith threes in the opening minutes put Indiana ahead 8-5. Ivica Zubac free throws made it 10-6 Pacers before Giannis and Myles Turner pieced together a 7-0 Bucks run to move back in front. However, Nesmith scored six straight and swung it right back, part of a 9-0 Pacers run. They led by as much as 10 in the closing minutes, and the scoreboard read 34-26 after 12 minutes. Nesmith had 14 of those Pacers points.
Giannis checked back in shortly after the second began; he and Portis quickly chipped away at the Indiana advantage. At first, the closest Milwaukee got was four: Nesmith remained scorching, burying his fifth trey just over four minutes in. He wasn’t the only one stroking it from deep for the Pacers, though: they sank five of their first six and prevented the Bucks from making it a one-possession game until the 4:17 mark. As Giannis sat to end the half, they could only close the deficit to two, amid their usual inability to collect defensive rebounds. Nesmith had 24 going into the locker room for the road team, who were on top 65-62.
A few quick buckets gave the Bucks their first lead in nearly a quarter-and-a-half, though it didn’t last at first. Consecutive Myles Turner and AJ Green triples reestablished it a little over three minutes later, but Milwaukee could gain no separation. It was a nip-and-tuck affair until a pair of Giannis dunks staked them up six inside three minutes. That also didn’t hold until the closing 90 seconds, when Portis’ and Taurean Prince’s threes gave the Bucks their first double-digit edge. After three, it was 102-96 Bucks, after Jarace Walker somehow converted a desperation three at the horn.
Portis came out firing to start the fourth, and Milwaukee quickly found themselves up 13, forcing an Indy timeout. At this point, with 10:21 remaining, Rick Carlisle emptied his bench, and the rout was on. Former Badger Micah Potter got some burn alongside the Pacers’ two active two-way players, and the Bucks increased their lead to as much as 19. The visitors thrice threatened by cutting it to 12, and even 8 with under a minute left, but they ultimately had no interest in avoiding a 13th straight defeat.
Stat That Stood Out
After a season-worst 23 turnovers yesterday in Atlanta, we saw a massive swing in the opposite direction in Fiserv. The Bucks only gave it away nine times today, one shy of a season-low. Through three, they had just four. Meanwhile, the Pacers had 19.
