Game Rewind: Pacers 81, Bucks 87

An overabundance of turnovers and a rough shooting night doomed the Pacers (1-3) to an 87-81 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks (2-2) on Tuesday night at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.

Indiana shot 39.7 percent from the field, made just 6-of-24 attempts from 3-point range, and missed nine free throws. The Pacers also continued to have problems with turnovers. After committing 18 in each of their first three games, the Blue-and-Gold had 19 on Tuesday night, resulting in 28 points on the other end.

"I was more disappointed in our ability to take care of the basketball," head coach Frank Vogel said after the loss. "I thought that's what cost us the game. 28 points off turnovers for them — too much to overcome."

The loss snapped Indiana’s six-game winning streak against their Central Division rivals and was the Bucks’ first win at Bankers Life Fieldhouse since Nov. 5, 2010.

After taking a five-point lead into the half, the Bucks quickly extended the margin at the start of the third quarter. Brandon Knight hit two straight 3-pointers and then Jabari Parker hit a pair of mid-range jumpers as Milwaukee opened the period with a quick 10-0 spurt.

The Bucks extended their lead to as many as 17 points in the frame before Indiana mounted a comeback.

The Pacers’ run coincided with leading scorer Chris Copeland finally getting it going. Copeland started the game 0-for-5 from the field, but finally started hitting shots late in the third. He scored 10 of Indiana’s last 14 points in the quarter, helping the Blue-and-Gold cut the deficit to eight points.

Indiana got within five points after Copeland’s 3-pointer with 11:05 remaining in the fourth quarter, but Milwaukee pushed the margin back to 11 by the 7:53 mark. The Bucks looked ready to cruise to a comfortable victory, but went cold in the final few minutes to leave the door open.

The Pacers strung together a 9-0 run while the Bucks missed five straight shots, cutting Milwaukee’s lead to three with 42.5 seconds remaining. But Knight drained a jumper from the left elbow on the ensuing possession to seal the victory for the visitors.

Copeland led Indiana with 19 points, 18 of them in the second half. Roy Hibbert added 16 points, seven rebounds, and five blocks in the loss.

Knight gave the Pacers trouble all night. The Bucks’ fourth-year point guard finished with a game-high 23 points on 10-for-16 shooting and seven rebounds. Knight’s penetration was a big reason the Bucks outscored Indiana in the paint, 38-26.

"Obviously we always want to win," Pacers center Ian Mahinmi said. "But sometimes you don’t. The thing about the NBA is, we play tomorrow. We’ll get another shot and hopefully tomorrow we come out with a victory."

The Pacers will travel to Washington on Wednesday to face the Wizards on the second night of a back-to-back.

Pacers forward Solomon Hill set a new career high with 12 points on 5-for-11 shooting. The second-year forward had set his previous personal best when he scored 10 points in Saturday's loss in Atlanta.

Lavoy Allen had eight points and 12 rebounds for the Blue-and-Gold. Seven of Allen's 12 rebounds came on the offensive glass. It was the most total rebounds and offensive boards Allen has recorded since joining the Pacers last February.

Starting wing C.J. Miles went scoreless, was 0-for-8 from the field and 0-for-5 from beyond the 3-point line. Miles is 14-for-50 from the field through four games and 5-for-25 from beyond the arc.

Six Pacers players and all five starters had at least two turnovers. Solomon Hill had a team-high four giveaways, while Donald Sloan coughed the ball up three times.

Second-year forward Giannis Antetokounmpo had 11 points on 4-for-7 shooting. Rookie forward Jabari Parker, the second overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft, had 10 points on 5-for-12 shooting. Veteran guard Jerryd Bayless also added 10 points on 4-for-7 shooting.

Bucks center Larry Sanders didn't score, but did tally 10 rebounds and three blocks in just under 23 minutes.

The Bucks' win snapped a 16-game road losing streak dating back to last season, which was the longest active drought in the NBA. Milwaukee's last road win came at Philadelphia on Feb. 24, 2014.

"It’s going to be up and down. We’re showing that we can play in spurts. We need to play better, we know that. We haven’t put together a full game yet. It’s something we’ve got to learn from. We have the fire power to get back in the game. I just want to see everybody healthy." -Roy Hibbert

"I think we had some good looks at the basket. We were just missing shots. First quarter we didn’t have any points in the paint. Whenever that happens, I mean, it’s tough to win the game. I think we were getting good shots, and hopefully in the upcoming games they will fall." -Lavoy Allen

"I'm not over-pressing, I'm not doing anything outside of what I do. My teammates have found me and I'm open, I've just got to knock them down. That's pretty much it. There's no secret to it, no science." -C.J. Miles on his shooting slump

"I think the guys in the locker room see the things we’ve gone through early, giving up leads, not finishing games and having turnovers on the road. Being able to address those, build on them, make it a positive and finally get a win on the road was great." -Bucks head coach Jason Kidd

"We forced them to shoot a lot of perimeter shots, we forced them to take off balance shots. We tried to make them drive and get extra help, force them to Larry (Sanders) and I thought we did a good job of that." -Jabari Parker on the Bucks' team defense

Points off turnovers were the difference on Tuesday night. While Indiana forced Milwaukee into 13 turnovers, they only converted those mistakes into four points. Conversely, the Bucks got 28 points off of the Pacers' 19 giveaways.

The Pacers travel to D.C. to take on the Wizards for the first time since eliminating Washington in last season's Eastern Conference Semifinals. Wednesday's game tips off at 8:00 p.m. ET.