Undermanned team produces knockout
The Milwaukee Bucks were undermanned and undersized Wednesday night.
They still had Jrue Holiday, though, and that was more than enough.
Holiday was in complete command, scoring 26 points and handing out 14 assists as the Bucks pulled away for a 114-99 victory over the Indiana Pacers at Fiserv Forum.
Despite having only 10 available players, the Bucks (19-11) ripped off a 21-0 run in the fourth quarter to bury the Pacers (12-18).
The Bucks came into the game with a lengthy injury report. Giannis Antetokounmpo, Donte DiVincenzo and Wesley Matthews Jr. all entered the NBA’s health and safety protocols over the last few days. DiVincenzo was set to return for the first time since hurting his ankle in the first round of the playoffs last season.
Khris Middleton, who hurt his knee in Monday’s loss to the Boston Celtics, warmed up before the game but was ruled out.
“I think when you consider everything, I think (we feel) very fortunate,” Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said before the game. “This should be very minimal and short.”
DeMarcus Cousins missed the game due to personal reasons, and Brook Lopez (back surgery) and Semi Ojeleye (calf ) have been out with longterm injuries.
That didn’t leave a lot of options for Budenholzer. Milwaukee went with a starting lineup of Holiday, Grayson Allen, Jordan Nwora, Pat Connaughton and Bobby Portis.
The NBA’s healthy and safety protocols have seen a major uptick recently with 43 players entering in the past two weeks. Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle wasn’t at Wednesday’s game because he was also in the protocols. Assistant coach Lloyd Pierce filled in for Carlisle.
The Bucks started with energy,
opening an 8-2 lead with Holiday scoring five of those points and prompting Pierce to call a timeout.
The Pacers, however, came back by taking advantage of their size and the game was tied at 33-33 after the first quarter. Indiana pulled down 15 rebounds to Milwaukee’s five in the opening 12 minutes.
Holiday seemed to like taking over the starring role, hunting for his own offense and scoring 16 points on 7-for-11 shooting in the first half.
The undersized Bucks defense fared pretty well, forcing eight turnovers in the first half. Indiana couldn’t get a shot off in the closing seconds and Milwaukee took a 58-53 lead into the break.
Holiday kept attacking early in the third quarter. He drove for two straight layups and then, after a dunk by Portis, found Connaughton on a nice pass that gave the Bucks a 71-68 lead.
The Pacers kept battling back, with Domantas Sabonis putting back an offensive rebound for a 79-78 advantage.
The teams entered the final quarter tied at 87-87.
They exchanged baskets to start the fourth before Justin Holiday, Jrue’s brother, knocked down a three-pointer for a 92-91 lead.
The Bucks answered with Connaughton draining a three-pointer to go up, 97-92. Holiday then hit Nwora with a nice pass for a layup and Indiana called a timeout with 6:59 remaining.
Connaughton added two free throws and Milwaukee seemed in control with a 101-92 lead. Nwora added two straight layups to make it a 14-0 run and Indiana had to burn another timeout with the crowd at Fiserv in a full roar.
The Bucks went up to 21 unanswered points before the Pacers finally scored on Kelan Martin’s layup with just under two minutes remaining.