Milwaukee Bucks crush Indiana Pacers behind incredible first half shooting display

The Pacers conceded 85 first half points to the Bucks and couldn't recover

The Milwaukee Bucks looked like they were having a shooting contest during the first half of their Friday battle with the Indiana Pacers. It felt as if no matter what the Bucks did on offense, or no matter what the Pacers did on defense, Milwaukee would score.

In the first two quarters, the Bucks scored 85 points. They knocked down 33 shots on 52 attempts. Milwaukee nailed 13 threes. Their first half was impressive, and after leading by as much as 31 in the second quarter, they held a 29 point halftime lead.

"They hit us with just about every situation you can. One-on-one, pick-and-roll, drives, downhill, transition. Just got to be better," Rick Carlisle said of his team's first half defense. "We'll look at it and we'll keep working toward doing better."

Slow starts have plagued the Pacers often recently. They have trailed after the first quarter in all of their last five games, and most of them haven't even been close. In this game, that slow start hurt the blue and gold again. They jumped out to a 2-0 lead, but found themselves down by five about four minutes later. They kept it close for a while, but Indiana was down by 15 after one quarter.

It was hard for the Pacers to catch up. "We've got to make a stand as a team and just decide that we're going to compete better at the start of games," Carlisle said. "You can't be coming out of halftime and being embarrassed."

The Pacers defense was far below expectations in the first half, but the Bucks were making everything. There was little the Pacers could do. Milwaukee has been playing well offensively in their last few games, and they continued that form on Friday. The blue and gold had no answers, and the game was effectively over by halftime

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"Yes they made some tough shots, but we said that last time we played them. I think that our effort in the first quarter just has to be there defensively," Pacers center Myles Turner said after the game. He finished with a team-high 24 points. "We've got to assert ourselves a bit more."

In the second half, the Pacers looked like a totally different team. They were moving the ball well and playing with more pace. On defense, they were the aggressors instead of reacting. They took their first half embarrassment and turned it into fuel.

During the third quarter, the Pacers outscored the Bucks 43-29. While they were still down big, they brought the lead back down to a manageable number. A solid fourth quarter would give the blue and gold a chance.

For a while, it looked like Indiana might pull off an improbable comeback. With 3:32 to go, guard Bennedict Mathurin hit a layup to slash the Milwaukee lead down to seven. At the time, the Pacers were on an 11-2 run. Somehow, they had a chance.

The Bucks quickly eliminated any hope the Pacers had left. Three free throws, a Grayson Allen three pointer, and a Giannis Antetokounmpo layup later and the blue and gold were down by 12. The final deficit was 10 as the Pacers fell 141-131.

"Coach just got after us because the starts that we've been getting off to are just atrocious," guard T.J. McConnell said after the game. "We played great in the second half, it's already too late... we can't keep getting off to slow starts. We've proven in the second half we can play with them."

The Pacers tried intentionally fouling Antetokounmpo down the stretch to catch up. For a few possessions, it was working, and the Greek Freak was 4/14 from the foul line at one point. But he hit three of his next four attempts to help put the Pacers away. He finished with 41 points.

"We got stops. We did a good job of making them shoot tough shots, and then we kind of pushed in transition. We got a lot of points that we wanted," Bucks guard Jrue Holiday said of the Bucks' first half performance.

The Pacers fell to 24-27 with the loss. They have won just one of their last ten games and only have a .5 game lead on the tenth seed in the Eastern Conference. They are in freefall with Tyrese Haliburton sidelined.

They will try to get back on track as they take on the Grizzlies in Memphis on Sunday.

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• Tyrese Haliburton says he hopes to return from injury 'to start February' for the Indiana Pacers. CLICK HERE.
• Report: Indiana Pacers were 'finalist' for Rui Hachimura before Los Angeles Lakers trade. CLICK HERE.
• Myles Turner has improved significantly this season. Just ask his former teammates and coaches. CLICK HERE.
• Bennedict Mathurin closes out the Chicago Bulls with an excellent fourth quarter: 'I like adversity a lot.' CLICK HERE.
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