Game Recap
On Thursday night in Milwaukee, the Pacers were searching for their first road win of the season. But a bevy of turnovers, combined with a rebounding deficiency, ended up dooming Indiana, as it fell 125-107 to the Bucks at the BMO Harris Bradley Center.
After an efficient offensive attack in the first half, the Pacers (2-3) came out of the locker room and shot just 32 percent in the third quarter, leaving them down 11 in the fourth. Indiana attempted to rally, but each time, Milwaukee answered in kind.
Despite his team-high 23 points, Paul George turned the ball over six times, adding to his team's total of 21, of which the Bucks (3-2) created 34 points.
"We had 21 turnovers tonight. Our offense was not dominant tonight," Pacers head coach Nate McMillan said after the game. "I never felt we had control of this game."
Milwaukee's trapping defense created the turnovers, as Jabari Parker (27 points) and Giannis Antetokounmpo (27 points) spearheaded the offensive attack which piled up 62 points in the paint (18 of them on the fastbreak).
With just over six minutes remaining in the game, the Pacers trimmed the lead down to nine points, but a Greg Monroe dunk on the fastbreak broke the game open once more, as Milwaukee defended its home court.
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With the Pacers using a smaller lineup featuring C.J. Miles at power forward, they found some success, cutting the Bucks' lead to seven after a fastbreak connection between Ellis and George.
But on the other end, Tony Snell (12 points) hit a 3-pointer to take the life out of the game, in what ended up being the Pacers' final charge of the night.
In the first half, Indiana hung tight with the Bucks, leading for much of the first and second quarter. But when the third quarter began, a six-point deficit turned to double-digits as the Bucks pushed the tempo on offense.
By the time the the third quarter came to a close, the Pacers had been outscored 27-22 and trailed 90-79 as the fourth quarter began. Luckily for Indiana, a late 6-0 run pulled the Pacers within striking distance for the final frame.
But despite some flurries of offense in the fourth, the Bucks were able to maintain their offense long enough to keep Indiana at bay, leaving the Pacers still in search of their first road win of the season.
"The only thing we can do is to hopefully watch film and have coach put out what the areas to break down [are]," George said after the game. "Maybe we need to watch more film than we’re watching. But, again it’s got to mean something. As a team, it’s got to mean something to us"
Inside the Numbers
The Bucks outrebounded the Pacers 41-31, and 12-10 on the offensive glass.
Milwaukee finished the night shooting 58 percent from the field.
C.J. Miles was a bright spot, ranking up 19 points off the bench for Indiana.
Paul George continued to shoot well from the perimeter, going 4-of-8 from downtown.
You Can Quote Me On That
"We’re giving up baskets. Especially a lot of baskets that we can take away. No disrespect to a couple of their guys, but they don’t shoot the ball particularly well and we knew that. The game plan was to obviously keep them out of the paint, and some of the guys made some shots. Okay. What about the times they still got to the basket? What about the times we gave up wide open shots? Whatever. It’s just little stuff. I can’t say we’re not playing hard, but we’re just not playing the way we should be playing as a group" -C.J. Miles
"I don’t think we were aggressive at all. I thought they were able to run their stuff. They pretty much got what they wanted. They were effective from the field, effective from the free throw line, and they were effective from the 3-point line. We didn’t disrupt that offense at all. We have to get more pressure and guard the ball on the defensive end of the floor." -Head coach Nate McMillan
"Our team, we played really well. That’s a playoff team [the Pacers]. They have 10 guys that can be starters, regardless of the situation. We really did a good job holding them. Difficult shots, eliminated second chance points, which is a real strength on their end." -Bucks forward Jabari Parker
Noteworthy
- The Pacers were outscored in every quarter except for the first
- Monta Ellis only attempted four field goals in the game. He only had two games last season with four or fewer field goal attempts
- It was the first time a team had two players score 27 or more points against the Pacers since March of last season, when Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan each had 28
Stat of the Night
Prior to this season, the last team to have 32 or more assists as a team against the Pacers was the Lakers in 2010. This season, the Bulls (34) and the Bucks (32) have both reached that mark.
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