The Milwaukee Bucks came up just short, both literally and figuratively, on Monday night as they fell to the Indiana Pacers at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
On the heels of an impressive comeback victory the night before, the Milwaukee Bucks couldn’t make that two straight as they fell just short to the Indiana Pacers on Monday night, losing 92-89.
Much like their meeting a few nights earlier, both the Bucks and the Pacers were slow getting out of the gate, with both teams passing double digits at the 2:57 mark of the first quarter. While it was a struggle for both teams to fully rid themselves of their early rust, it was the Pacers who ended up leading 20-17 after the first quarter.
The Bucks finally came alive throughout the second, which helped them grab control of the lead at the 7:02 mark of the quarter. With that said, the Pacers put a stop to the Bucks pulling out ahead comfortably on them by practically matching their every move in the latter stages of the quarter.
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With the Bucks leading 46-44 coming out of halftime, the Pacers strung together a 21-4 run from the beginning of the third until the five-minute mark to swing the game in their favor.
But boosted by the likes of Jabari Parker, Eric Bledsoe and Jason Terry, the Bucks answered back by putting together a 19-8 run to close out the third trailing 73-69 at the end of three.
The Bucks continued to stay within range of the Pacers during the opening minutes of the fourth quarter until they briefly slipped with the Pacers taking an eight-point lead after a tough corner three by Thaddeus Young at the 6:17 mark of the frame. Luckily, the Bucks sprung back into action to bring themselves within two after Giannis Antetokounmpo slammed home an easy alley oop with roughly a minute and 30 seconds to go.
After Antetokounmpo sunk one free throw after two tries on an ensuing possession, the Bucks put in stop after stop on the defensive end to give them a shot of taking the lead. Unfortunately, they couldn’t get a good look on one try and Khris Middleton lost control of the ball following a steal that gave way to the Pacers grabbing possession after a jump ball, which left the Bucks to intentionally foul to send them to the free throw line.
Down 92-89 with five seconds to go, the Bucks failed to complete their comeback with Giannis Antetokounmpo just kissing the rim on what was an otherwise good, impromptu look from downtown right as time expired.
So without further ado, let’s take a deeper look at what stood out in the Bucks’ loss to the Indiana Pacers Monday night.