Game Rewind: Pacers 94, Bucks 91

The Pacers' New Year started with a bit of luck.

After trailing the Milwaukee Bucks for nearly two quarters of play at the BMO Harris Bradley Center, Donald Sloan banked in a 3-point shot to put the Pacers ahead by one in the fourth quarter. From there, it seemed, the shots kept falling for the Blue-and-Gold. Two long-range daggers from C.J. Miles, the game's high scorer with 22, pushed Indiana's lead to five, as the Pacers went on to win 94-91 on their first night of a four-game road trip.

Sloan — who was thrust back in as a starter due to injuries to both George Hill (left groin strain) and C.J. Watson (sore left foot) — filled up the stat sheet, dishing out a team-high six assists along with 10 points and eight boards. One of his biggest buckets came on a dazzling right-handed layup as he split the defense on a pick-and-roll with two minutes remaining, pushing the lead to seven.

"We have some guys out and the ‘next man up’ mentality, when somebody gets an opportunity to play more, those wins are more fun," Pacers head coach Frank Vogel said. "They mean more and are more enjoyable, and this is one of them."

The Pacers trailed by seven at the half after allowing Milwaukee's transition offense to break out for 52 points while shooting 49 percent from the field. But a 20-15 third quarter narrowed the gap to just two at the beginning of the fourth. It was noted at that point by FOX Sports Indiana play-by-play man Chris Denari, that the Pacers, when trailing after three quarters, were 1-19. But the Blue-and-Gold were able to buck the trend, holding Milwaukee to just 38 points for the entire second half, en route to the victory.

A big part of the Pacers' brilliant display of defense in the second half was center Roy Hibbert, who tormented Bucks guards attempting to score in the painted area. On the offensive end, the Big Dawg tallied 18 points on only six field goals, connecting on all six of his free throw attempts. Early in the third quarter, with the Pacers' starters chipping away at the deficit, Hibbert hammered down a one-handed slam that sent the Blue-and-Gold's bench into a frenzy of celebration.

"He was fighting, he was fighting for position," Vogel explained. "We knew that this team fouls a lot, 27th in the league in fouling. We just wanted to play aggressive in every way."

Things got tense late in the fourth quarter as Indiana fought to maintain its lead. With 34 second remaining, Jared Dudley connected on a 3-pointer to bring the score to 89-85. On the inbounds, Rodney Stuckey was intentionally fouled and drained both of his free throws to push the lead up to six.

However, layups by Brandon Knight and O.J. Mayo made it a one-possession game with five seconds remaining. But after the Bucks fouled Solomon Hill to stop the clock, the second-year forward calmly knocked down both of his foul shots to put the game out of reach for good.

The victory made the Pacers winners in five of their last eight games, including three of their last four on the road.

Indiana won despite going into the fourth quarter trailing. Prior to tonight's win, they were 1-19 on the season in that situation.

The Pacers are now 4-1 when C.J. Miles scores 20 or more points in the game.

The Blue-and-Gold have now held their opponents under 40 second-half points in two consecutive games.

“We couldn’t get stops when we needed to. On the offensive end, we missed some shots we normally make. The score was kind of what we thought it would be against Indiana, not a high pace, but you can’t give them second looks. We had some great opportunities that we normally have made in the past, but we just didn’t make them tonight.” - Bucks head coach Jason Kidd

“I don’t really care what their preparation is. Just get ready for the game, and [David] West and I talk match ups, how to help on defense and offense, and I’m not going to speculate what they think of us.” - Hibbert on being underestimated

“Those are just the fun part, being able to step up and make shots like that at the end of the shot clock. Just time and position in the game, not necessarily knowing it’s not a bad shot, just being able to step up and make a big shot." - Miles on late-game 3-pointers

"We only got four free throw attempts in the first half, so we got on our guys at halftime to be aggressive off the bounce, aggressive with posting up and aggressive on the glass too. They are not a great defensive rebounding team and we only had one offensive rebound, so Dave [David West] and Roy [Hibbert] and Lavoy [Allen] really took it to heart to pound the offensive glass against the smaller team.” - Vogel on getting to the free throw line

The Pacers have now held opponents to less than 100 points in seven of their last eight games.

From here, Indiana continues its West Coast swing, as they travel to face the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday night at 9:30 PM.