Bucks Surge in Second Half to beat Pacers 119-100

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Coming off a tough back-to-back in Charlotte and Miami, the Bucks started Wednesday’s game dominating the Indiana Pacers leading by 22 points in less than just 10 minutes.

However, 10 straight missed shots and some poor defense made it just a two-point lead at halftime. Their 5-of-20 shooting matched their halftime mark from Monday’s first half in Miami, a loss in which they finished 7-of-34

The Bucks offense got back to normal in the second half, giving the fans what they had been used to seeing at the Fiserv Forum, cruising to a 119-100 win, and improving to 53-9 on the year.

“Sometimes we like to play off our defense and sometimes we aren’t getting as many stops as we need to get and the other team is scoring at a high rate, they’re too efficient. I think we just have to continue to trust each other, move the ball a little bit more, move people a little bit more, get good looks and then we have to make them.” Said Bucks Head Coach Mike Budenholzer.

 “Not every game is gonna be pretty,” Bucks guard Eric Bledsoe said. “You got to win the ugly ones too. That’s the sign of a good team. When you hit adversity and things not going your way how are you going to pull it out? I think our defense is the main factor.”

After halftime the Bucks got it going. Giannis Antetokounmpo led all scorers with 29 points and added 12 rebounds and six assists in the game. After Indiana had tied the game at 60, Antetokounmpo found Brook Lopez with a no-look pass for a corner three and two possessions later found Khris Middleton for another three. This led to a Pacers timeout. With seven minutes left in the third quarter, the Bucks lead by 11 and held their double-digit lead for the remainder of the game.

The Pacers (37-25), who played without Victor Oladipo and lost Malcom Brogdon in the second quarter due to hip soreness, got back within 10 heading into the fourth quarter, but the Bucks defense closed the door on any chance for a comeback.

“We realized we needed to play better,” said Bucks forward Khris Middleton. “We relaxed in that second quarter. In that third and fourth quarter, we did a great job playing with pace and getting stops. We know they like to slow things down and get into the shot clock, but we did a great job playing our basketball.”

One consistent bright spot for the Bucks as of late has been the play of Donte DiVincenzo. The second-year guard stuffed the stat sheet during Wednesday’s game, tying a career high with 19 points, while adding seven rebounds, three assists, and three steals.

“Donte has been playing phenomenally all season long. He definitely is showing why he deserves to be here. He put in the work, and it’s showing.” Bledsoe said.

The Bucks will take on the Lakers on Friday night in Los Angeles. It will be a battle of the two best teams in the league and what some see as a 2020 NBA Finals preview. Antetokounmpo had some praise for Lebron James postgame.

“He just leads the path for us…seeing a guy at 35 being still top three best players in the world, that makes us want to be there, makes me want to be there one day.” Said Antetokounmpo.