Indiana 105, Milwaukee 101
Pacers stop Bucks, keep hopes alive
At Milwaukee | April 4, 2008
They still need help to make the playoffs, quite a bit of it, in fact, but the Pacers did what they could to help themselves with a 105-101 victory over the Bucks in the Bradley Center Friday night.
With Mike Dunleavy scoring 12 of his 27 points in the fourth quarter, including a pair of clutch 3-pointers and two-thirds of an unusual but important three-point play, the Pacers held off repeated Milwaukee challenges, led wire-to-wire and kept their postseason hopes alive.
"We just hung in there," Dunleavy said. "As the game went on, they came back on us multiple different times but one thing is when you have a lead, teams have got to take that from you. We never really let them do that. We made big shots and hung on for the win."
Of the eight Pacers who played, six score in double figures and a seventh, Jeff Foster, was one point shy of a double-double.
IMPACT
Coupled with losses by both Atlanta (109-104 to Philadelphia) and New Jersey (106-87 to Detroit), the victory moved the Pacers (32-44) past the Nets (31-45) into ninth place in the East, three games behind the Hawks (35-41). The Pacers play the Bucks again Sunday in Conseco Fieldhouse before hosting the Hawks Tuesday in what could be a make-or-break game.
TURNING POINT
The Pacers had the Bucks on a yo-yo most of the night, pulling out to several double-digit leads only to see the home team reel back in – but never all the way. The Pacers had a 77-67 lead late in the third quarter but the Bucks scored eight in a row to close to 77-75 but Dunleavy hit a 3-pointer to quell that threat. After Milwaukee made it 84-82 on a Bobby Simmons jumper with 6:25 left, Dunleavy struck again from beyond the arc. It was 94-89 when Dunleavy and Travis Diener combined for a rare three-point play.
On a two-on-one fast break, Diener passed to Dunleavy for a dunk, then collided with defender Royal Ivey, who was called for a blocking foul. Dunleavy's basket counted and Diener converted the free throw for a 97-89 lead with 3:16 left.
Dunleavy later committed what could've been a costly mistake. With the Pacers up 104-98, he picked up a Flagrant Foul for pushing his hands into the face of a driving Ramon Sessions with 17.5 seconds left. Sessions made one of the free throws and the Bucks opted not to go for a 3-pointer ad Michael Redd instead drove for a layup that made it 104-101 with 11 seconds left. Dunleavy was fouled in the ensuing inbounds play and made one-of-two free throws to close the door.
HIGHLIGHTS
In addition to his 27 points on 8-of-17 shooting, including 4-of-6 from the arc, Dunleavy had 11 rebounds, four assists and three steals. Troy Murphy scored 17 with six assists, Foster had 16 rebounds and nine points and Danny Granger a quiet 13 points. Diener, Jermaine O'Neal and Marquis Daniels – the only reserves to play -- scored 11 apiece off the bench. O'Neal was sharp, offensively, making 5-of-7 shots.
LOWLIGHTS
Turnovers were a problem throughout the game as the Pacers committed 21 – six by O'Neal and five by Dunleavy – that helped the Bucks hang around despite a poor shooting night (.430 overall, 2-of-10 from the arc). Michael Redd did his usual number with 28 and Andrew Bogut had 21 points, six rebounds and three blocks.
NOTEWORTHY