Pascal Siakam ended with 25 points and seven rebounds and Tyrese Haliburton added 10 points and 12 assists to lead the Indiana Pacers along the Milwaukee Bucks, 117-98, for 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven first round series on Saturday.
Indiana led by as much of 28 and feeded a load that brought the bucks within 12 halfway through the third quarter by keeping the bucks just three points over the last 5:24. Myles Turner’s 3-Pointer with 1:59 sealed the victory. Turner had 19 points and four blocks.
Two-time competition MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo led the bucks with 36 points and 12 Reboubs, but the Pacers kept him only one assistant in a rematch of last year’s opening round, who won Indiana 4-2. Antetokounmpo missed all six of those games with a calf injury.
AJ Green scored 15 and the only other bucks that achieved Doble figures were Gary Trent Jr. With 14 and Kevin Porter Jr. With 12. Bucks All-Star Guard Damian Lillard was out while he keeps getting back to HISW from deep Venin thrombosis in his calf.
Indiana held Milwaukee, which shot a competition-best 38.7% on 3-Pointers, up to only 2 of 16 in the first half and finished 9 of 37. Pacers coach Rick Carlisle threw Ansortment of Defenses atokounmpo, which in his first quarter of Playoff promotion since 2023.
The Pacers took the lead with an 11-3 sprint late in the first half, so that the lead was postponed to 60-43.
Reporting by the Associated Press.
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