Pacers-Bucks Preview

By JEFF MEZYDLO
Posted Mar 24 2012 1:21AM

It might be the better conditioned team, and not necessarily the most talented one, that prevails when the Indiana Pacers and Milwaukee Bucks meet for the first time this season.

With each club concluding a stretch of three games in three nights, the surging Bucks look to avoid a third consecutive loss to the Pacers on Saturday night at the Bradley Center.

One night after its season-high six-game winning streak was snapped with a 100-91 home loss to Boston, Milwaukee (22-25) bounced back with a 112-92 victory at Charlotte on Friday.

Defensive-minded forward Luc Richard Mbah a Moute scored 13 of his team-high 20 points in the second half to help the Bucks move within one-half game of New York for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

"We wanted to come out with a lot of energy," said Mbah a Moute, averaging 7.5 points this season. "When we move and share the ball we're a good team. We imparted our will out there and were able to get an easy win."

Six players scored in double figures as the Bucks shot 53.3 percent and recorded 31 assists Friday - the fifth time in six games they've had more than 30 assists. Milwaukee, which also had a season-high 72 points in the paint, has averaged 110.4 points on 49.4 percent shooting while winning seven of eight.

"We've got a comfortable group out there and (want) to use our depth to our advantage," said veteran swingman Mike Dunleavy, who scored 15 off the bench at Charlotte. "It's a fun way to play. When the ball is moving and guys are knocking down shots, it's fun and it's easy. Hopefully we can keep it up."

The energy the Bucks were able to save by utilizing their depth against the Bobcats could come in handy Saturday. Milwaukee has dropped the last two versus Indiana following a six-game winning streak in the series.

Indiana snapped a five-game skid at Milwaukee with a 103-97 win in its last trip to the Bradley Center on Feb. 12, 2011.

"We're hungry to play, we're ready to play Milwaukee," All-Star center Roy Hibbert told the Pacers' official website.

Indiana (27-19) is just percentage points ahead of Atlanta for fifth place in the East after falling 113-111 at home to Phoenix on Friday, one night after it rallied from 22 points down to win 85-83 at Washington. Danny Granger had 28 points on 9-of-13 shooting Friday and Hibbert added 19, but the Pacers lost for the seventh time in 11 contests following a season-high six-game winning streak.

"A tough loss, but I'm proud of the way we competed," coach Frank Vogel said.

Granger has averaged 23.0 points in the last three games, and 22.6 in his last 16 versus the Bucks. He scored 30 in the Pacers' last visit to Milwaukee.

Monta Ellis is averaging 26.6 points on 49.1 percent shooting in his last five games versus Indiana, but just 14.5 while making 37.7 percent of his shots in four contests since the Bucks acquired him from Golden State in a five-player deal last week.

Hill scores 24, Pacers beat Bucks 125-104

By CHRIS JENKINS
Posted Mar 25 2012 12:16AM

MILWAUKEE (AP) With two teams both playing their third game in three nights, George Hill's big performance off the bench made the difference for the Indiana Pacers.

Hill scored a season-high 24 points and the Pacers beat the Milwaukee Bucks 125-104 on Saturday night.

It was an impressive rebound for Hill, who was coming off a couple of recent poor shooting performances.

"That's all I could think about last night," Hill said. "Everybody tells me I'm too hard on myself."

Roy Hibbert added 16 points and nine rebounds, and credited Hill for making good on a promise to rediscover his shooting touch. Hill was 0 for 5 Thursday at Washington 3 for 7 against Phoenix on Friday.

"George had a doughnut the other night," Hibbert said. "He was talking about it and said he was going to have a great game tonight. Everybody just followed his lead. You have to give it up to him for bouncing back."

Ersan Ilyasova had 22 points and eight rebounds for the Bucks.

Monta Ellis, Milwaukee's recent trade acquisition, scored 11 points, struggling after scoring nine in the first quarter. Ellis sat most of the fourth with the game well out of hand.

The game included a hard collision, then a minor confrontation, in the fourth quarter between Milwaukee's Mike Dunleavy, a former Pacers player, and Indiana's Tyler Hansbrough.

Hansbrough will get an X-ray on his cheekbone on Sunday after Dunleavy was assessed a Flagrant-1 foul for a hard knock that sent Hansbrough to the floor.

"Whatever happened, I was upset," Hansbrough said. "I'm just upset because I got fouled pretty hard. Stuff like that happens."

Hansbrough appeared to be in some pain as he took a few minutes before getting back up, then missed a pair of free throws. The two players continued to jaw at each other, and later were assessed double-technicals.

"Just taking a hard foul on a fast break," Dunleavy said. "Can't give up any layups."

Dunleavy signed with the Bucks after spending the previous four seasons with the Pacers.

The Pacers did much of their damage from the line, making 32 of 39 free throws while the Bucks were 14 of 18.

"We want to be a smash-mouth basketball team, which for us is to play a power post game, pound it inside and live at the free throw line," Pacers coach Frank Vogel said. "We don't always execute that identity, but tonight we did."

Both teams were playing for the third night in a row. To make matters worse, the Bucks' team plane wasn't able to land in Milwaukee after Friday night's victory at Charlotte, so the team had to land in Chicago and take a bus back. The team didn't get in to Milwaukee until about 1:30 a.m. Saturday.

"We can't blame it on the travel schedule," Bucks center Drew Gooden said.

Milwaukee came into Saturday night's game a half-game behind the New York Knicks for the No. 8 playoff seed in the Eastern Conference; the Knicks won Saturday, giving them a 1 1/2-game lead. The Bucks play at New York on Monday night, and face the Knicks again at home on April 11.

"I don't think just beating the sub-.500 teams will get us in," Bucks coach Scott Skiles said. "We've got to beat some other teams that are, record-wise, better than us."

But that didn't happen Saturday, as Indiana took control with a scoring spurt in the third quarter.

The Pacers led by nine at halftime, but the Bucks were able to cut the lead to six on a 3-pointer by Ilyasova.

Indiana went on an 11-2 run from there, taking a 76-61 lead on a pair of free throws by Hibbert with 4:41 left in the third.

Milwaukee's offense, which has been impressive in its recent hot streak and was expected to be even better with the recent addition of Ellis, scored only three points in a stretch of about five minutes in the third quarter.

The Bucks closed what was otherwise a miserable quarter on a high note, as Jennings hit a rainbow shot from well beyond the halfcourt line at the buzzer. Still, the Pacers led 92-76 going into the fourth quarter.

Notes: Vogel was coming off his first career ejection, which came in Friday night's home loss to Phoenix. ... Hill's previous season high of 22 came Jan. 13 at Toronto. ... Carlos Delfino had 13 points for Milwaukee.

Notebook: Pacers 125, Bucks 104

Posted Sunday March 25, 2012 12:29AM

By Rick Braun, for NBA.com

THE FACTS: George Hill scored a season-high 24 points to lead a huge bench effort as the Indiana Pacers ripped the Milwaukee Bucks 125-104 Saturday night at the Bradley Center.

Both teams were playing their third game in three nights, but the Pacers (28-19) clearly played with more energy. Center Roy Hibbert added 16 points and nine rebounds, and forwards Danny Grainger and David West had 15 each as the Pacers shot 51.2 percent (43 for 84).

Ersan Ilyasova led the Bucks (22-26) with 22 points and eight rebounds.

QUOTABLE: "It was an energy game and they had all of it. They were around the rim, they were in the paint, they were making multiple efforts. We just had difficulty competing with their energy."
-- Bucks coach Scott Skiles

THE STAT: In an energy game, the Pacers won all of the "hustle board" statistics with a 49-37 edge in rebounds, a 9-4 margin in steals and a 5-3 advantage in blocked shots.

TURNING POINT: The Bucks got within 67-61 midway through the third quarter and were trying to retake the momentum when Hibbert scored inside and Hill drained a 3-pointer to start a 9-0 run that made it 76-61. The Bucks never got closer than a dozen the rest of the way.

QUOTABLE II: "It's all I could think about last night. Everybody tells me I'm too hard on myself, but I had zero points (Thursday night vs. Washington). I think I was 0-for-5 and I knew it was shots that I normally hit. It just didn't go my way. Sometimes you live by the shot, sometimes you die. That night I died, tonight I lived."
-- Hill, who promised teammates a big game after going scoreless Thursday night against Washington and having eight in the loss to Phoenix on Friday

HOT: Hill was 7-for-9 and led a bench squad that shot 21-for-36 (58.3 percent).

NOT: The Bucks were 19-for-39 after a basket by Ilyasova pulled them within 48-47 with 2:55 left in the half. They went just 10 for their next 34 (29.1 percent) spanning midway into the fourth quarter and were down by 23 before they closed by making 11 of their last 18.

GOOD MOVE: With each team playing its third game in three nights, neither coach played any player more than the 31:32 logged by the Bucks' Brandon Jennings.

NOTABLE: Bucks sixth man Mike Dunleavy was tagged with a flagrant foul for a hit to the face of Indiana's Tyler Hansbrough with 10:42 left. Nine seconds after Hansbrough missed both free throws, the two were lined up next to each other as Hill shot two free throws and were each hit with a technical foul as they jawed back-and-forth. They were teammates on the Pacers the previous two seasons, but Dunleavy is a Duke product and Hansbrough is a University of North Carolina product. ... The Bucks reached 30 assists for the sixth time in seven games and the seventh time in 10 games. They lost for the first time when reaching that mark. ... The Bucks scored at least 104 points for the ninth time in 10 games. They fell to 18-5 in games where they score at least 100. ... The 125 points were the Pacers' season high. ... The Bucks now trail New York by 1 1/2 games for the final playoff spot in the East. The two teams meet in New York on Monday night.

UP NEXT: For the Pacers, Monday vs. Miami, Wednesday @ New Jersey, Thursday vs. Washington. For the Bucks, Monday @ New York, Tuesday vs. Atlanta, Friday @ Cleveland.

• Pacers: Fesenko, Foster
• Bucks: Brown, Leuer

• Pacers: Hansbrough
• Bucks: Dunleavy

• Lead Changes: 15
• Times Tied: 4

• Arena: Bradley Center, Milwaukee, WI
• Officials: #40 Leon Wood, #23 Jason Phillips, #72 JT Orr
• Attendance: 16207
• Duration: 2:08