Obi Toppin scored 21 factors, T.J. McConnell had 20 factors and 9 assists and the Indiana Pacers gained a playoff sequence for the primary time in a decade, beating the Milwaukee Bucks 120-98 in Sport 6 on Thursday evening.
The Pacers will face the winner of the Philadelphia-New York sequence within the Jap Convention semifinals. New York took a 3-2 lead into Sport 6 later Thursday.
Indiana’s milestone victory got here precisely 30 years after it swept Orlando 3-0 to advance within the NBA playoffs for the primary time in franchise historical past, and it got here on an evening the Bucks have been once more with out Giannis Antetokounmpo. The 2-time league MVP by no means performed after straining his left calf April 9.
Damian Lillard, in the meantime, returned from a proper Achilles harm and performed nicely — however was not almost as dominant as he was within the first two video games when he scored 69 factors. Lillard completed with 28 factors on 7-of-16 capturing.
Bobby Portis Jr. added 20 factors and 15 rebounds for Milwaukee. Brook Lopez additionally had 20 factors, and Khris Middleton had 14 factors and eight rebounds.
Two-time All-Star Tyrese Haliburton had 17 factors, 10 assists and 6 rebounds for Indiana, and Pascal Siakam completed with 19 factors and 7 rebounds. Toppin and McConnell every had playoff career-high scoring totals, and McConnell additionally had 4 steals.
Indiana went 8-3 in opposition to the Bucks this season and handed Milwaukee its second straight first-round exit.
Simple? Not an opportunity. Indiana turned the sport with a 23-3 first-quarter spurt that made it 29-19 and the Pacers by no means trailed once more.
However each time the Bucks charged again the Pacers had a solution.
When Milwaukee reduce it to 38-34 early within the second quarter, Indiana scored seven straight factors. When the Bucks opened the second half on a 9-4 run to shut to 63-56, Indiana responded with a 10-5 run to increase the margin to 12. When Milwaukee bought to 85-78 with 6:05 left within the third, McConnell capped an 11-0 run with back-to-back 3-pointers to make it 96-78 early within the fourth.
And the Bucks by no means recovered because the Pacers prolonged the result in 104-84 with 8:07 to play. From that time, it was a festive environment at Gainbridge Fieldhouse with Pacers gamers being serenaded off the court docket to a standing ovation.
Reporting by The Related Press.
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