Game Rewind: Pacers 136, Bucks 149

Wednesday, March 29 at 7:00 PM ET at Gainbridge Fieldhouse

For much of Wednesday night at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, the undermanned Pacers hung tough with the East-leading Milwaukee Bucks.

But ultimately, Indiana's young squad had no answer for the Bucks' two veteran All-Stars.

Jrue Holiday scored a career-high 51 points while Giannis Antetokounmpo added a 38-point, 17-rebound, 12-assist to his bid for a third MVP award as the Bucks (55-21) pulled away in the second half for a 149-136 victory over the Pacers (33-44).

Holiday went 20-for-30 from the field, 3-for-6 from 3-point range, and 8-for-10 from the free throw line, eclipsing his previous career high by 11 points while also tallying eight rebounds and eight assists.

"He's an amazing player, both sides of the ball," Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle said. "His scoring tonight was at another level obviously, but defensively I mean he's -- I said it before the game, he can guard anybody. Just a nod of respect to him. He's a guy that too often is overlooked as a truly, truly great player."

Antetokounmpo, meanwhile, went 14-for-18 from the field and 10-for-14 from the charity stripe, as he and Holiday combined for 89 points as the Bucks avenged a 139-123 loss to the Pacers on March 16 in Milwaukee.

Rookie guard Bennedict Mathurin led seven Pacers in double figures with 29 points and also pulled down nine rebounds, while Aaron Nesmith added 22 points on 5-of-5 3-point shooting.

For the second straight game, the Pacers were without their top three scorers as Tyrese Haliburton (ankle/elbow) and Myles Turner (ankle) were inactive while Buddy Hield was not on the bench due to a non-COVID illness. Second-year guard Chris Duarte was also unavailable due to a sore ankle.

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Neither team led by more than four in a tightly contested first quarter that featured six ties and 10 lead changes.

Mathurin played the whole opening frame and tallied eight points, while third-year big man Jalen Smith chipped in another eight off the bench. But the Bucks got 23 combined points from Antetokounmpo and Holiday and took a 34-30 lead into the second quarter.

Milwaukee led for the entire second quarter, stretching its advantage to as many as eight points, but the Pacers kept it close.

Nesmith's layup with 37.9 seconds remaining in the half trimmed Indiana's deficit to 69-67. Holiday answered with a three on the other end. Mathurin appeared to counter with an and-one, but after the whistle, Mathurin was assessed a technical foul. Holiday made the technical free throw to cap a 17-point quarter, while Mathurin then missed his foul shot.

As a result, Indiana headed into the intermission trailing by four.

The Pacers made an early statement coming out of halftime. Just over a minute into the third quarter, Isaiah Jackson swatted away Antetokounmpo's layup attempt, sparking a fastbreak where Andrew Nembhard connected with his fellow rookie Mathurin on a thunderous alley oop.

Indiana tied the game at 84 a few minutes later, when Nesmith drilled his second three of the second half at the 8:08 mark. But they couldn't retake the lead, as Holiday and Antetokounmpo each converted a three-point play on Milwaukee's next two possessions.

Holiday helped the visitors break the game open a little later in the frame, scoring all 10 Bucks points during a 10-4 run that pushed the lead to 111-97. He tipped in his own miss with 2:50 remaining in the third quarter to match his previous career high of 40 points, surpassed it with another layup 17 seconds later, then added a three for good measure 18 seconds after that.

After an Oshae Brissett free throw, Milwaukee reeled off six unanswered points to push its lead all the way to 19.

The tide did turn slightly for the Blue & Gold in the closing seconds of the frame, however. After T.J. McConnell's jumper with 21.2 seconds remaining, Bucks forward Bobby Portis stuck his forearm into Nesmith's neck while driving on the other end.

Upon video review, Portis was assessed a flagrant-1 foul with 2.6 seconds left in the quarter. Nesmith made both free throws, then got free on the ensuing inbound and drilled a buzzer-beating trey from in front of the Indiana bench to trim the deficit to 119-107 entering the fourth quarter.

Brissett kept the momentum going by hitting a three on the opening possession of the final frame.

Indiana had the deficit down to 122-114 a little over two minutes into the quarter and seemingly had a stop secured as Antetokounmpo was trapped on the baseline with the shot clock winding down. But the two-time MVP somehow spun and threw down a thunderous two-hand slam, drawing Smith's sixth foul in the process.

After a Mathurin layup, Milwaukee got another highlight reel dunk from a less likely source when Grayson Allen rose up for a right-hand slam that he somehow converted despite being knocked to the floor by his former teammate Jordan Nwora.

That was the start of what proved to be an 11-0 run by the Bucks to put the game away.

Mathurin had another stellar outing for Indiana in the loss, going 11-for-21 from the field and 6-for-9 from the free throw line and going head-to-head with Holiday and Antetokounmpo.

"I'm talking to him a lot about what this responsibility means and the fact that to be a really great two-way performer, to be a guy like Jrue Holiday or to be a guy like Giannis or to be a guy like Kobe or Jordan or guys like that, LeBron -- the level of commitment that you have to make to develop your strength, stamina, attitude, disposition, all those kinds of things," Carlisle said. "You have to do that. You have to be willing to be coached and those types of things.

"I saw a lot of good things out of him tonight. Forget about the points. Just his alertness, his desire to share the ball and make the right, simple play."

Nembhard had a strong offensive performance in the loss, scoring 15 points and dishing out a career-high 15 assists.

Nwora tallied 18 points against his former team, while Smith finished with 17 points, six rebounds, and four assists in 20 minutes off the bench before fouling out. Brissett and McConnell each finished with 12 points.

Brook Lopez had 21 points, eight rebounds, and three blocks for the Bucks, while Portis added 12 points and eight boards off the bench.

Indiana has just five games remaining in the regular season. The Pacers wrap up a three-game homestand on Friday against the Thunder before heading to Cleveland on Sunday. The Blue & Gold will then host the Knicks and Pistons next week before wrapping up the regular season on April 9 in New York.

The Bucks' 149 points were a new high for a Pacers opponent this season, two more than Philadelphia tallied on March 6. The Bucks shot 62.4 percent from the field on the night.

Milwaukee outscored Indiana 86-64 in points in the paint, setting a new high for points in the paint by a Pacers opponent.

Mathurin set new career highs for minutes (40) and rebounds (nine) while also putting together the third-highest scoring performance of his young career and his highest scoring game since Nov. 9.

Nesmith made all five of his 3-point attempts, the third time over his last eight games that he knocked down four or more shots from beyond the arc.

Nembhard recorded his fourth double-double of his rookie season. His 15 assists were two more than his previous high, which he set in a win at Golden State on Dec. 5.

The Pacers scored 25 points off 19 Bucks turnovers, while only committing nine turnovers themselves.

"I think Jrue is the best two-way player -- at least guard, maybe player in the league. He can score on offense and he's one of the best defenders I've ever seen. Obviously I was in practice with him a lot over the past couple years. And while it might be surprising to some that he had 50, it doesn't really surprise me." -Nwora on Holiday's performance

"Just his professional approach is old-school...It's just about love and respect for the game and competing at the highest possible level. That's what the guy does. It's no-frills, high-level, winning basketball." -Carlisle on Holiday

"Damn near everything. He scores from all levels, knows how to use his body really well on both sides of the floor, guards everybody's best player. He's really talented." -Nembhard on what he can learn from watching a player like Holiday

"I think Mathurin is learning a lot about playing as a starter in high-level games and what that's all about. I like his vibe, I like his approach, and I like the fact that he is a sponge for information right now before, during, and after games. That's how you've got to be as a young player with his kind of ability." -Carlisle on Mathurin moving into a starting role over the last few games

"I think for guys like me and him (as) rookies, as the season goes on and continues to slow down, you understand spacing. You understand when you can attack, when you can get to your spots, shoot over the top, whatever it is. I think he's getting to a point where he's feeling more comfortable slowing down." -Nembhard on Mathurin's performance

"He just kept the pace going. We needed to play fast. We knew these guys were playing tomorrow. We wanted to make this as much of a track meet as possible. He did a great job of keeping the pace in the game for as long as we could." -Carlisle on Nembhard's 15 assists

"I think the best thing we did today was just push the pace on a team that has a lot of vets that don't really probably want to run and play as fast as we do all game. We got a lot of good stuff in transition...And then we were just playing kind of free basketball. We weren't running too many plays, just trying to play off of each other, read each other." -Nembhard on the offense keeping up with the Bucks for three quarters

"Aaron Nesmith is an unconditional hard-playing team guy. He is what we're going to be about here. That kind of approach, that kind of personality, that kind of desire to sacrifice and just be totally about the team. He's a unique guy. He's got a lot of areas to improve -- he's still very, very young. But he stuck his body in there against Giannis. His 3-point shooting, his running was one of the reasons we stayed really right even with these guys for a good portion of the game." -Carlisle on Nesmith's unsung contributions

Holiday's 51 points marked the fifth time a player scored 50 in an NBA game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Jermaine O'Neal holds the building record with 55 points on Jan. 4, 2005. All the other players to achieve the milestone were Pacers opponents: Russell Westbrook with 54 points on April 12, 2014, Mo Williams with 52 on Jan. 13, 2015, and Bradley Beal with 50 on May 8, 2021.

The Pacers conclude a three-game homestand at Gainbridge Fieldhouse against Josh Giddey and the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday, March 31 at 7:00 PM ET. Find Tickets >>