Danny Granger scores 29 points as Indiana deal a serious blow to the playoff hopes of the Milwaukee Bucks with a 118-109 win, which also saw the Pacers clinch the home advantage in playoffs...
On Thursday night at the Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, IN, the Indiana Pacers defeated the Milwaukee Bucks 118-109.
This win helped the Pacers maintain their grip at the third spot in the Eastern Conference Standings and the Pacers would have home court advantage in the first round of post season action.
With the regular season winding down, a lot of teams are gearing up for the playoffs. Indiana seems to have found new life in the closing stages as they have now won 11 out of their last 12 games. Their current win streak is at
7 and with just 3 games left in the season; they don’t seem to be slowing down at all.
Danny Granger was the leading scorer for the Pacers, finishing the game with 29 points. David West also had a great game as he ended the night with double-double figures of 21 points and 14 rebounds.
George Hill managed to contribute 22 points, Paul George had 14 points and Roy Hibbert also played well to add 12 points. Indiana had all starters finishing the game with double-digit scores. Leandro Barbosa also came off the bench
to add 10 points.
For the Bucks, Brandon Jennings led the charge with 27 points while Mike Dunleavy came off the bench to contribute 23 points and 8 rebounds. Luc Mbah a Moute chipped in with 16 points and 11 rebounds; Drew Gooden and Monta Ellis
also played well to contribute 15 and 12 points respectively.
Indiana started the game with all guns blazing as they raced to a 16-6 lead in the first 3 and half minutes. With their shooting rhythm on lock, Pacers managed to connect on 12 of their first 15 attempts as they got their advantage
to double-figures with 4:13 remaining, 27-15.
However a 10-4 quarter ending run by the Bucks brought the Pacers advantage down to 5 after the first 12 minutes.
With the momentum on their side, Bucks were able to score 5 quick unanswered points in the second quarter as they tied the scores up at 34-each. Milwaukee went on to take the lead and extended it to 6 points with 7:46 to go in
the half.
Within the next two minutes, Indiana rallied their way back and were able to tie the scores up at 44-each. The scores remained level till there was just a tad above 1 and half minute remaining. Pacers closed the half on a 6-0 run
to take a 6 point advantage at 56-50.
Pacers started the second half on a 10-2 run as they took their advantage back to double-figures. Indiana`s advantage remained in double figures for the rest of the third quarter and before going into the fourth, they were leading
by 11 points, 89-78.
Indiana were able to maintain their double figure lead till the mid way point in the fourth quarter when the Bucks were able to get the lead down to 7 points at 90-97. However, Indiana responded back with a 12-5 spurt to extend
the advantage back to 14 with 3:29 remaining.
But the Bucks were not just letting up as they formulated another comeback run and from an Mbah a Moute three pointer, they were back within 5 points with 36.8 seconds remaining. However, the Pacers held their nerve to shoot from
the free throw line; in the end they were able to win this one by a margin of 9 points.
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