Quoting Pacers Head Coach Frank Vogel
“Very excited to lock up home court advantage in the first round.  We’re excited with where we’re at.  Our guys are playing with a big picture in mind.  David West is a bad man . . . and I’m not talking about the altercation.  He is playing at an extremely high level and driving this team to be great.   I can’t wait to see how far he leads us in the playoffs.  George Hill is filling in for Darren Collison tremendously.  When DC gets healthy we’ll make that decision (on starting point guard).  We’ve got two guys who are top 10 point guards in this league and we’ll need both of them in the playoffs.”

Quoting Bucks Head Coach Scott Skiles
“(On the Larry Sanders incident) No comment.  I will let the league handle that. (general) We dug ourselves a hole and it’s been one of the things we’ve struggled with most of the year.  They’re (the Pacers) a good club. They’re 19 games above right now, so you can’t fall behind like that.  You have to stay with them.  Our overall approach early in the game wasn’t good enough for a game like this against a team of that caliber.  It’s not that we didn’t play hard, it’s that you need an extraordinary effort against a team like this, not an ordinary one.  It’s a great club.  They’ll be a tough out in the playoffs.”

Quoting the Pacers’ Leandro Barbosa
“We did a great job of collapsing and clogging the middle up. The coach told us what we had to do to finish strong, so we executed.  They had some tough times out there and we knew they would make a run.  I know what my role is here now.  I like it and I want to help this team go deep into the playoffs, not just the playoffs, but deep in the playoffs.”

Quoting the Pacers’ George Hill
“This is a competitive sports game. We know this and we know we have to be competitive each and every night.  We have to be ready for whatever they throw at us.  We need to keep it up, continue to play hard, continue to get better and keep the heat on whoever we play, whenever we play. This is just the beginning.”

Quoting the Pacers’ Paul George
“We came out focused and ready to play tonight.  Coach told us to put our foot on their necks and not let them up.  We are playing great basketball now, working together, recognizing each other and just having fun out there.  It is just the beginning.  We can’t let up under any circumstances.  No highs or lows.”

Quoting the Bucks’ Luc Mbah a Moute
“(On the physical nature of the game) We are both competitive.  This is a division game.  Every game we play with these guys is tough and not just this year but every year that I have been here it has been that way.  Tonight was tough though because we came out flat. We were able to come back by making some plays a little towards the end of the first half and the second half.  But every time we cut into their lead they would respond by making a big basket or making a big play.”

Quoting the Bucks’ Drew Gooden
“Indiana is one of the top seeds in the East.  They’ve proven that night in and night out.  We fought, but they made the simple plays that were back-breakers to us.  We saw it time and time again tonight.  (On the rest of the season) One game at a time. We know we have to win out.  But we can only do it one game at a time.”

Quoting the Bucks’ Mike Dunleavy
“We battled.  It just seems like we just can’t hold teams down defensively.  They’re getting in to the 110-120-point range every night.  It seemed like tonight we gave up a lot of fast break points, which is too bad.  We’re on the outside looking in.  We have to do something extraordinary right now.”

PLAYOFF RACE – With just five games remaining, Milwaukee is in the midst of a critical stretch in the race with New York and Philadelphia for the eighth seed. Here's a breakdown of the remaining schedule for the three teams:

ERS ON TARGET – Ersan Ilyasova's shooting numbers have really stood out recently. He currently ranks T26th in the NBA in FG% (.490) and 3rd in 3P% (.457), making him one of just two players (along with Steve Nash) to rank among the league's top-30 in both shooting categories. His accuracy from behind the arc is on pace to become the second-highest 3P% in Bucks franchise history, trailing only Dell Curry's league-leading 47.6% in 1998-99.

SUP-ERSAN – Ersan Ilyasova's shooting numbers have really stood out recently. He currently ranks T26th in the NBA in FG% (.490) and 3rd in 3P% (.457), making him one of just two players (along with Steve Nash) to rank among the league's top-30 in both shooting categories. His accuracy from behind the arc is on pace to become the second-highest 3P% in Bucks franchise history, trailing only Dell Curry's league-leading 47.6% in 1998-99.:

ERSANITY! – During the height of Linsanity in New York, Ilyasova produced a historic night of his own just across the Hudson. Ersan erupted for career highs of 29 points and 25 rebounds in Milwaukee's win at New Jersey on 2/19, becoming the first Bucks player in over 30 years to tally 25+ points and rebounds in a single game. Ilyasova becomes just the third member of the 25/25 club in Bucks history, joining Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Swen Nater.

DUN-3-VY – The Bucks offense has been a revelation this season, ranking in the top-half of the league in scoring (99.5 ppg, 5th), 100-point games (31, T4th) and offensive rating (103.0, 14th). Last season, Milwaukee ranked 30th in all three categories. A major reason for the improvement has been the scoring off the bench from Mike Dunleavy. The veteran has led a 2nd-unit that ranks 7th in the league at 34.2 bench points per game, and his 21 games this season with 10+ points on 50% or better shooting as a reserve is T6th in the league. Dunleavy shot 56.9% from the field during March, the best mark in the month for a guard, and his 54.4% accuracy from behind the arc for the month led the league. Dunleavy is at 41.5% from three on the season, the 17th-best mark in the NBA.

• Ersan Ilyasova recorded his team-high 18th double-double in Washington with 14 points and 11 rebounds, five of which were offensive. Ilyasova's 49-game streak this season with one or more offensive rebound is currently the longest in the NBA, and second only to Roy Hibbert's 53-game streak from 12/26/11 to 4/3/12.
  
  
• Monta Ellis recorded his 13th game this season with 30+ points, which is tied with Carmelo Anthony for sixth in the league.
  
  
• Last night against the Wizards, Ekpe Udoh had his 31st multi-block game this season. As a reserve, Udoh has recorded a league-leading 24 games with at least two blocked shots.
  
  
• According to ESPN Stats & Info, Milwaukee's loss at Washington broke a 14-game winning streak against sub- .500 opponents.
  
  
• According to hoopdata.com, through games of April 15, Milwaukee has an assist percentage of 62.51, better than all but one team in the NBA this season (Boston, 67.24).
  
  
• The Bucks rank 1st in the NBA in assists per game with 23.84 and 5th in points per game with 99.5. They ranked 30th in both of those categories last season.