Game Rewind: Pacers 126, Bucks 113 (Game 4)

Sunday, April 28 at 7:00 PM ET at Gainbridge Fieldhouse

The Indiana Pacers have held home court and are one win away from the Eastern Conference Semifinals.

Making a Pacers franchise playoff record 22 3-pointers on Sunday, Indiana (3-1) beat a short-handed Milwaukee Bucks squad 126-113 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. The Bucks will host Game 5 on Tuesday night at a time to be determined by the NBA.

Six Pacers players scored in double figures, led by 29 by veteran center Myles Turner, who finished 10-for-17 from the field (7-for-9 from 3-point range). Turner’s seven made threes are tied for the most in a playoff game by a Pacers player, with just Chuck Person (1991), Reggie Miller (1995, 2000), Paul George (2009) and Bojan Bogdanovic (2018) also accomplishing the feat.

RELATED: Turner Ignites Home Crowd with "Sensational" Performance in Game 4 >>

After Turner, Tyrese Haliburton had 24 points on five made 3-pointers, Andrew Nembhard logged 15 points, and Aaron Nesmith, Pascal Siakam, and Obi Toppin each scored 13.

Overall, the Pacers shot 51.7 from the field, including 22-for-43 from 3-point range (51.2 percent). Seven different players made a 3-pointer for Indiana in the game.

Milwaukee shot 51.1 percent from the field (12-for-33 from 3-point range ), and was led by center Brook Lopez’s 27 points. After Lopez, Khris Middleton scored 25 and Malik Beasley put in 20.

Milwaukee played without two of their stars on Sunday, as two-time NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo remained sidelined with a calf injury and Damian Lillard missed his first game of the series due to an Achilles injury sustained during Game 3. Their status for the remainder of the series is unknown.

“The guys did a great job of keeping pressure in the game,” Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle said. “The fans were fantastic. We had some really good individual performances...But when you're in a playoff series and you win, your celebrations have to be pretty short and you have to keep focusing. That will be our task. Tuesday, I have an idea what’s coming then with their crowd and everything. Important win, we’ll get ready for Tuesday.”

PLAYOFF CENTRAL: Follow Indiana's Postseason Run at Pacers.com/Playoffs >>

In the first half, the Pacers made 12 of 22 shots from 3-point range to lead 67-64. Milwaukee kept it close by shooting 59.6 percent from the field in the first 24 minutes.

Haliburton had 15 points in the first half for the Pacers and Turner scored 13.

While the Pacers made seven 3-pointers in the first quarter on 12 attempts, with a different player making each one, the teams tied at 33-33 by the end of the frame as the Bucks shot 58 percent overall from the field.

After Indiana shot 3-for-8 to start the game, Haliburton scored six straight points for the Pacers and Turner and Nesmith each added 3-pointers to put the Blue & Gold up 17-16 with 5:30 on the clock.

With 5:01 left in the opening quarter, tensions boiled, and Bucks starting forward Bobby Portis was ejected from the game after shoving Nembhard and slapping him in the head on a play under the visitors’ basket.

After each team hit a free throw, Toppin came off the bench and scored three straight baskets for the Blue & Gold, including an alley-oop dunk off a half-court pass from Haliburton, to put the Pacers up 24-21 with 3:41 left in the first quarter.

Rookie Ben Sheppard, Doug McDermott, and Toppin all hit treys in the last 3:13 of the first quarter, but the score stayed tied at 33 after 12 minutes of play.

T.J. McConnell made a trio of buckets to start the second quarter, while also dishing out five assists, before the Pacers strung together a 13-4 run from 9:24 to 6:21, thanks to seven points by Turner, to lead 54-46 with 6:21 left in the half.

While Indiana made shots down the last stretch of the first half, so did the Bucks, as the visitors narrowed the lead to three a trio of times before intermission.

Indiana shot 57 percent from the field while holding Milwaukee to 34.8 percent shooting in the third quarter to lead 98-85 heading into the final frame. The Pacers shot 7-for-14 from 3-point range in the period.

After Lopez scored a basket out of halftime, Haliburton went on a self-imposed 9-0 run by draining three straight 3-pointers to put the Blue & Gold ahead 76-66 and force a Bucks timeout.

The Bucks answered with five straight points out of the huddle before a Toppin layup, Turner poster dunk over Lopez, and Turner 3-pointer – Indiana’s record-breaking 17th of the game – put the Pacers ahead 88-76 with 4:37 left in the third quarter.

Indiana didn't lay off the gas from there, as Nesmith made a 3-pointer, McConnell hit a fade away from close range and Toppin converted a layup to give the Pacers a 13-point lead.

Milwaukee made three straight baskets in the first 90 seconds of the fourth quarter to narrow the score to 98-92, but then Turner caught fire again – scoring eight straight points for the Pacers in a 10-2 run to give the Blue & Gold a 108-94 lead with 7:24 left in the game. Turner made two 3-pointers during the stretch, with the crowd chanting his name before draining the one before a timeout.

In the final six minutes of action, the Pacers never let go of the double-digit advantage as Nembhard made three straight shots, Siakam converted an and-one and hit a mid-range jumper, and Turner splashed his seventh 3-pointer.

“I think after that first game, we watched a lot of film and just saw some of the holes in the defense,” Turner said of his historic 3-point shooting night. “We realized that there were open spots for us to exploit. A lot of it being just read and react, read and react, which is what our offense is. I’ve been shooting threes my entire life. I didn’t really shoot too many in college or coming into the league, but I’ve always been capable. I’ve put in a lot of work to get to where I need to be. Just going to continue to keep putting my work and the results will continue to show.”

Indiana finished with 33 assists in the game and turned the ball over just seven times.

Andrew Nembhard and T.J. McConnell combined for 17 assists and zero turnovers.

Turner has scored 29 points in each of the last two playoff games, which are both career-bests in a postseason game.

Both starting centers shot the ball at a high clip, with the Bucks’ Brook Lopez going 14-for-18 from the field and Turner finishing 10-for-17 from the field.

Indiana’s bench outscored the Bucks’ reserves 32-28.

The Pacers had just seven fastbreak points in the game and the Bucks finished with five.

Khris Middleton has recorded double-doubles in each of the last two games.

There were 10 lead changes and four ties in the game.

“Our pressure wasn’t where it needed to be in the first half. We were able to pick it up in the second half. It helps. We gotta keep adjusting to what’s going on with their team. They're changing things up, they’re playing different guys. They’re doing different schemes. We’ve got to keep abreast of it and keep trying to counter.” – Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle on the team's defense in the second half

“I thought both of those guys played amazing games. Lopez was spectacular and so was Myles. It was a great battle between the two of them.” – Carlisle on Turner and Lopez

“It ramped up the intensity of the overall game. It didn’t make the game any easier in my mind. I think Portis is a very underrated player. Credit to them, when they lost one of their weapons, they kept their level high. It was a three-point game at halftime and a lot of continued work in the second half to get the win. I didn’t see a replay of what happened or anything, so I don’t know anything other than what the officials told me right afterwards.” – Carlisle on Portis and the ejection

“Obviously it’s up there, but for me personally, I was just joking with my teammates — I feel like every postseason I get one of these since I’ve been in the league. So it’s nothing new for me. I tell them all the time, I’m not dunking the regular season, but postseason I’ll be straight. Got my legs right, just saw an opening and was able to make a great play.” – Myles Turner on his poster dunk and where it ranks among his career highlights

“That was special. I didn’t realize I hit the three while they were chanting my name. I saw that afterwards. But that was very special, just knowing how much the city means to me and they reciprocated that love. It was a dope moment for me. It’s definitely up there, and to happen in front of my family. It was a very special moment for me.” -Turner on hearing the fans chant his name

"We’ll celebrate tonight, but we need to get right back to it tomorrow. We still have one more game to win. Never too high, never too low.” – Turner on the win

“I think we’ve got to understand all year we’ve struggled when teams miss their guys. That’s kind of been the story of our season, losing games we’re quote-unquote supposed to win. Just looking at this, it could have been like some call it a trap game, just letting your guard down…We didn’t want to do that. We wanted to come out and play the right way. That was important.” - Tyrese Haliburton on not overlooking the undermanned Bucks

“Just important for us to do our thing. I think the way games go — like Game 1 I felt like they dictated the tempo. And I would say the story of the last three games is we have. And usually that comes from who can get enough stops to really play their style of play…We made a decision after Game 1 that no matter what, we were going to dictate the pace, on makes, on misses. That’s really how we’ve created our identity the whole year. I think people know on makes, on misses that we’re pushing the ball. I think that that’s important for us. We’ve kind of got back to that these last three games. And in a world, in a league that says oh, you can’t play fast in the playoffs, we don’t really believe in that. We’re going to be who we are and put our identity and our imprint on our game.” - Haliburton on the importance maintaining their pace

“The  21-point quarter enabled us to get out and do what we do best, which is get out in transition and run, and get the crowd into it. There was the possession where Myles got the dunk and three, and so it got the crowd involved in a big way. That was from our defense.” – T.J. McConnell on the third quarter and second-half defense

“He was obviously really, really good tonight and deserved that - those fans calling his name. He played really well.” – McConell on Turner

“There were the first two (playoff) games I’ve played in this building and (it was) incredibly, incredibly loud, and they’ve been incredibly important to what having a home court (advantage) is like in the playoffs. They have really willed us to win these games and we’re very thankful for that.” – McConnell on the crowds at Gainbridge Fieldhouse

“I feel like it’s the law of averages.  We haven’t shot the ball well from three. We were due to kind of break out for one. We just gotta continue to shoot the open ones.” – McConnell on the Game 4 3-point shooting.

Indiana made a playoff franchise record 22 3-pointers against the Bucks on Sunday. The previous record was 16.

The Pacers travel to Milwaukee for Game 5 against the Bucks on Tuesday, April 30.

If necessary, the Pacers will host the Bucks for Game 6 on Thursday, May 2. Find Tickets >>