Bucks get back to losing
Milwaukee almost rallies but falls, 92-89, on the road to Indiana.
INDIANAPOLIS - Different city, similar game, same result.
Just like Friday’s game against the Indiana Pacers at the BMO Harris Bradley Center, the Milwaukee Bucks took a slim lead into halftime, fell behind by double digits in the third quarter and battled back in the fourth to make things tight but never so much as tied the game.
Monday’s game at Bankers Life Fieldhouse was much closer but followed that general script as the Bucks missed multiple opportunities down the stretch on the way to a 92-89 loss. Giannis Antetokounmpo had a shot to tie the game at the buzzer, but his three-point attempt came up short.
“I thought battling back all the way through was, again, the character of the team,” Bucks coach Joe Prunty said. “Obviously we wanted to close it. There were some plays down the stretch that if we can make would have been great for us in terms of taking the lead or being only down one.”
Both teams looked fatigued in the first half with each playing its second game in as many days. The Pacers shook their malaise quicker and opened the third quarter with a 21-4 run. That stretch, which included multiple three-pointers by Bojan Bogdanovic who had 29 points and led the
Pacers’ 58.8% three-point shooting by going 5 of 7, put Indiana up by 15.
But the Bucks rallied back, cutting the margin as low as one before the end of the quarter. Eric Bledsoe, who had a team-high 26 points and Jabari Parker who had 15 off the bench, played a major role in that, with Parker going 4 for 4 in the period. Jason Terry also made a noticeable impact, going 4 of 5 from the field for nine points in the game while being plus-17 in his 21 minutes.
“The bench did a great job, Jet and Jabari,” Bledsoe said. “They came in and did a hell of a job. They carried us and we failed out there.”
With about 3 1⁄2 minutes left and his team trailing by six, Prunty went to a small-ball lineup featuring Bledsoe, Khris Middleton, Parker, Terry and Giannis Antetokounmpo and that group locked down on defense. The Pacers didn’t make another field goal and committed three turnovers the rest of the way.
“It definitely helped,” Middleton said. “We guarded the ball well with that lineup, kept them out of the paint, got rebounds. On the offensive end, we were able to share he ball and get great looks out of transition.”
With the defense operating at a high level, the Bucks chipped away at the deficit until Antetokounmpo, who had 18 points and 12 rebounds, got a trip to the free-throw line with a chance to tie the game with 1 minute, 5 seconds left. He made the first free throw before his second rimmed out.
Following a Pacers turnover, Antetokounmpo missed a baseline jumper — again with the ball rimming out — giving Indiana the ball with about five seconds between the shot and game clocks.
Yet again, the Bucks came up with a defensive stop as Middleton picked off a pass and pushed ahead in transition. He was swarmed around the free-throw line by Cory Joseph and Bogdanovic with the ball flying out of bounds.
The call on the court was a jump ball because the refs couldn’t determine who knocked it out. That call stood after review, with Middleton and Joseph jumping for it with 6.8 seconds left.
Middleton won the tip, but his light tap was grabbed by Bogdanovic, who Bledsoe fouled with 5.1 seconds left. Bogdanovic made both free throws and after a timeout, the Bucks ran a play where the ball swung to Antetkounmpo, who side-stepped into a three that came up short.
“There’s multiple shots,” Prunty said regarding Milwaukee’s missed chances down the stretch. “There’s Giannis’ shot on the block, the turnover that we had, you’ve got the three-point shot that was open . ... We ended up with a pretty good look.”
With the loss, the Bucks lost the season series to the Pacers, 3-1. Add in a win by the Miami Heat and Milwaukee has slipped to eighth place in the Eastern Conference, one game out of sixth, two out of fifth and three behind the Pacers in fourth. They’re five ahead of the Detroit Pistons in ninth with 18 games to play.
BEHIND THE BOX SCORE
Hurting: Center Tyler Zeller missed Monday’s game due to right hip and back soreness stemming from his fall during Sunday’s game. Middleton was a game-time decision due to a right knee soreness, which also stemmed from Sunday’s fourth quarter.
“It’s my knee and my hamstring right now,” said Middleton, who had six points on 1 of 7 shooting and five rebounds. “I got banged up a little bit right now. Just tried to give it my all tonight. I felt I could go.”
Debut: Shabazz Muhammad, who signed with Milwaukee on Sunday, made his first appearance with the Bucks during the second quarter. He logged nearly seven minutes, missing his only shot and grabbing a rebound.
For the most part, Muhammad didn’t stand out during his first action. He played solid but not noteworthy defense and moved the ball on offense, though he did clog up the offense at times by being in the wrong spot — something to be expected for a player who has been with his new team for a day without any practice time.