© Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports
The Milwaukee Bucks lose to the Indiana Pacers despite Giannis Antetokounmpo's great night
Giannis Antetokounmpo scored the most points by any player this season so far, but the Milwaukee Bucks saw their three-game win streak come to an end with a 124-126 loss to the Indiana Pacers on Thursday night.
Ejected in the third quarter of Milwaukee’s 120-118 win over the Detroit Pistons the other night, Antetokounmpo played with a lot of fire and finished with 54 points, his seventh career 50-point performance.
Giannis went to work in the third
Damian Lillard sat out due to calf soreness but the Bucks had a chance to win this one despite trailing by as many as 18 points and head coach Adrian Griffin getting tossed in the third quarter due to two technical fouls.
The Bucks trailed at the half, 60-66, but Giannis dropped 18 points in the third quarter to lead Milwaukee to a 94-93 lead heading into the final period. Milwaukee zoomed to a 113-103 advantage—its largest in the game—in the final 7:08, and was still ahead by nine, 117-108, with only 5:18 left.
Faulty endgame
Milwaukee, however, crumbled in the finish with Giannis committing two crucial errors in the closing seconds that spelled the Bucks’ downfall.
With Milwaukee down by a point, 121-122, with 1:03 left, Giannis threw an errant pass then after a steal by Brook Lopez in the next play, he lost the ball to Benedict Mathurin, who then hit two free throws that extended Indiana’s lead to 124-121, with 8.4 ticks left.
Coming off a timeout, Khris Middleton missed a three-pointer before Bruce Brown sealed the outcome of the contest with free throws.
Middleton finished with 19 points in his return from a one-game absence. Malik Beasley added 13 points, while Bobby Portis Jr. had 11 points and eight rebounds. Brook Lopez could only score two points and grab one rebound as the Bucks dropped to 5-3 in the season.
Tyrese Haliburton collected 29 points and 11 assists, Mathurin added 26 and 10 rebounds, while Myles Turned chipped in 21 as Indiana pocketed its third straight win to improve to 6-3.
