MILWAUKEE — Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 29 points and Khris Middleton added 27 to help the Milwaukee Bucks bounce back from their first consecutive losses of the season with a 117-98 victory over the Indiana Pacers on Thursday night (Friday morning, Philippine Time).
Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo scores on a dunk in a game against Indiana. AP photo
Milwaukee, which improved to an NBA-best 49-16, was coming off back-to-back losses to Utah and Phoenix after opening a five-game road trip with three victories.
The Bucks gained control with a 12-0 spurt early in the fourth quarter. Kyle O’Quinn opened the final period with a floater from the lane to bring the Pacers within 10 at 84-74. Ersan Ilyasova hit a 3-pointer to trigger the run, capped by Antetokounmpo’s drive to make it 96-74 with 8:21 left.
Myles Turner had 22 points and Bojan Bogdanovic 17 for the Pacers.
Bogdanovic hit a pair of 3-pointers to pull Indiana within three points at 67-64. But Milwaukee responded with 13 consecutive points, pushing the lead to 80-64 on Antetokounmpo’s dunk with 2:56 left in the third quarter.
The Bucks opened their largest lead of the first half at 47-33 on two free throws by Antetokounmpo, but the Pacers went on a 17-7 run to close within 54-50 at the break.