(Getty Images / NBAE)

INDIANA, April 6 (AP) -- When the Indiana Pacers' playoff hopes were fading and they needed a spark, they found it from an unlikely source.

Reserve point guard Travis Diener scored 15 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter, and the Pacers beat the Milwaukee Bucks 105-97 Sunday night.

Diener, who averages seven points per game, made five of six 3-pointers in the final period.

"It was big time for us,'' said Danny Granger, who led the Pacers with 27 points. "It was unbelievable, that effort he put forth. It carried us through the fourth quarter.''

Michael Redd, one of the league's top scorers, was impressed with the display. Diener made four 3s in the first 6 minutes of the quarter.

"He had 15 of his 18 in the fourth quarter? Oh my goodness,'' Redd said. "He went nuts. I know he hit like five 3s, and he did a tremendous job pushing the ball and creating his own shot.''

The Pacers trail the Atlanta Hawks by three games for the eighth playoff spot in the Eastern Conference with five games to play. Indiana hosts Atlanta on Tuesday.

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GAMEDAY ARCHIVE

Highlights from Sunday's loss to Indiana

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Game highlights

For exclusive locker room video from tonight's game, check out the AT&T Multimedia Vault!

Larry Krystkowiak

“Guys want to take it upon their own shoulders. We lost a lot of our energy due to our shot selection. (On the Pacers) They got out and rolled. They got it heated up in the fourth quarter. (On Jeff Foster) Great night. He puts his hard hat on every night. Every team needs a guy like him. This game can change really quickly. The momentum is a crazy thing in this game.”

“(On Travis Diener) He definitely got hot. He was knocking down three’s all over the place. On our end, we stopped rotating on defense, we were a step slow in the fourth quarter and once we got behind the eight ball, they got a lot of momentum and we couldn’t stop them. Diener is a good shooter. He’s definitely capable of doing what he did. When you’ve got guys like him and Mike Dunleavy out there, you can’t leave them open because they can heat up quick.”

(On Travis Diener) He had 15 of his 18 in the fourth quarter? My goodness. He went nuts. He was hitting threes everywhere, pushing the ball up the court and getting other guys shots. He did a great job. I don’t know what their field goal percentage was in the fourth quarter…it had to be 65-70%. They did a great job. The majority of it was three’s. It was tremendous on their part. Jeff Foster was instrumental to what they did. He works hard and knows his role.”

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