Grabbing control when it matters
Victory secured in second half
Considering the way the 2019-20 season has gone for the Milwaukee Bucks, the way they went into halftime of Wednesday's game probably as one of the bigger moments of panic for their fan base this season.
They had opened their game against the Indiana Pacers in dominant fashion, leading by 22 points with fewer than 10 minutes elapsed. A drought of 10 straight missed three-pointers and some shaky defense, though made it a two-point margin as the game reached its midpoint.
As a team, the Bucks were deep in a prolonged three-point shooting drought. Their 5 of 20 mark at half matched their halftime output from Monday's first half in Miami, a loss in which they finished 7 of 34. Add on Sunday's 7 of 31 performance in a win over the Charlotte Hornets and the Bucks were 19 of 85 (22.4%) in 10 quarters of basketball.
Any panic, though, was not evident in the players when they requalified
turned to the court. It likely didn't stick with their fans long, either.
The Bucks returned to form in the second half, rolling to a 119-100 victory at Fiserv Forum.
Giannis Antetokounmpo led all scorers with 29 points on 10 of 23 shooting while making all seven of his free throws. He also collected 12 rebounds and dished out six assists, including four in the third quarter.
It was that third quarter that turned the tide. Antetokounmpo's passing had a lot to do with it.
After the Pacers tied the game at 60 -Indiana never led -- Antetokounmpo flicked a pretty, no-look pass to Brook Lopez in the corner for three. Antetokounmpo then hit Khris Middleton for a transition layup then again for a three before connecting on a three-pointer of his own.
Coming off missing 10 triples in a row, the Bucks connected on 6 of their first 10 three-point attempts in the third quarter while growing their lead back up to as many as 18 points. Middleton played a notable role in that third-quarter surge, scoring eight of his 20 points in that period.
The Pacers, which played without Victor Oladipo and lost Malcolm Brogdon in the second quarter with hip soreness, got back within 10 heading into the fourth, but Eric Bledsoe made sure the Bucks closed the door.
Bledsoe drove strong to the rim to earn free throws, hit a midrange jumper and tacked on a three in the opening three minutes of the fourth to boost Milwaukee's lead up to 20 points. He went on to finish with 16 points, seven assists and five rebounds. Donte DiVincenzo filled up the stat sheet, too, tying his career high with 19 points in the win.
Injury updates
Kyle Korver missed Wednesday's game, his ninth straight absence due to back soreness dating back to Feb. 12. Coach Mike Budenholzer indicated before the game that the team didn't initially expect Korver to be sidelined for this long but now he is on track and could be close to returning, potentially on the Bucks' upcoming three-game road trip.
Milwaukee was also without backup point guard George Hill against the Pacers after Hill suffered a bruise taking a knee to the groin in Monday's loss in Miami. The low blow, dealt by Heat guard Goran Dragic, originally was not whistled as a foul. On Tuesday, the league assessed a Flagrant 1 foul to Dragic for the unnecessary contact that left Hill pounding the floor in pain.
In the Bucks locker room before the game, Hill expressed his lingering frustration. "It didn't do (expletive)," Hill said when asked how he felt about the foul being assessed after the fact.
At the moment, Hill gave Dragic the benefit of the doubt, choosing to believe the contact was unintentional.
But when Dragic never went to check on him as he writhed on the floor or sought him out to apologize, Hill changed his opinion of the Heat guard.
"That respect is gone," he said.