Glenn Robinson scored 12 of his 20 points in the third quarter and Sam Cassell added 11 of his 19 in the decisive period as Milwaukee remained undefeated against division foes with a 115-95 rout of the Indiana Pacers.
Neither team led by more than six points in the first half, which ended in a 51-51 tie. Cassell and Robinson put away the game in the third period.
Milwaukee opened the quarter on a 17-1 run highlighted by seven points from Cassell and four apiece from Robinson and Ray Allen, who scored 22 points.
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from Pacers-Bucks: 56k | 300k  Glenn Robinson shoots over the Pacer defense. Gary Dineen NBAE/Getty Images |
"With all the easy shots I missed in the first half, I had to come out and do something," said Cassell, who made 3-of-12 shots before halftime. "We want to win as many games as possible and we have a good rhythm going into games right now."
The Bucks took a 72-58 lead on a layup by Allen with 7:06 left in the third period and Robinson kept them ahead with eight points in the remainder of the quarter.
"I didn't want to come out and force things early," Robinson said. "The shots just came. We're tough to deal with. We've been playing 'D', we just need our offense to come around and I think it is."
The Pacers inched within 89-82 three minutes into the fourth quarter, but Milwaukee regained control with 13 straight points. Michael Redd nailed a 3-pointer during the blitz and capped it with three-point play that made it 108-82 with 5:48 left.
Redd finished with a season-high 21 points off the bench.
"It just happened, steady improvement," said Redd, whose previous high was 14. "I'm the first one out at practice and the last one to leave. It came together for me tonight."
Robinson also collected nine rebounds and Cassell handed out 11 assists for the Bucks, who won for the fourth time in five games and improved to 4-0 against division rivals.
"These are the teams in our area, we want to take over the Central," Robinson said.
Anthony Mason chipped in 12 points as Milwaukee extended its home winning streak to three games and improved to 8-2 at the Bradley Center this season.
The Bucks shot 51 percent (45-of-89), including 6-of-18 from 3-point range, and held a commanding 55-40 rebounding edge.
Ervin Johnson grabbed 10 rebounds in just 16 minutes and Joel Przybilla added nine to go with a career-high seven points.
"We gave people wide-open shots tonight, layups, tap-ins," Thomas said. "They outrebounded us and out-fought us. We have a team of scorers and not many defenders. The only thing we seem interested in is scoring."
The Pacers shot just 39 percent (36-of-92) and made 2-of-11 from the arc.
Al Harrington scored 15 of his 26 points in the first half as most of Indiana's offense was stymied in the final 24 minutes. Reggie Miller added 15 points and Jermaine O'Neal chipped in 10, but the duo combined for just five points after halftime.
After scoring 31 points in the first quarter, the Pacers managed just 21 in the second and 20 in each of the final two quarters. Indiana shot 51 percent (24-of-47) in the first half but made just 12-of-45 shots after the break, including 0-for-6 from 3-point range.
Rookie Jamaal Tinsley had 11 points and eight assists before fouling out and Jalen Rose added 10 points on just 3-of-16 shooting.
"Their shots were falling and ours weren't," Rose said. "In the second half, they just wanted the game more. They outlasted us."