MILWAUKEE _ The Milwaukee Bucks have had a flair for the dramatic all season, for better and worse finding ways to keep games close into the final minutes.
They've chipped away at large deficits, squandered advantages, traded buckets and more. You name it and they've done it when it comes to keeping games interesting.
As true as that may be for most Bucks games this season, it wasn't the case Wednesday night against the Indiana Pacers. Milwaukee maintained a lead _ often a comfortable one _ for most of the night and didn't let up on the way to a 122-101 victory at the BMO Harris Bradley Center. For the Pacers, who were playing their fourth game in a row without their leading scorer, Victor Oladipo (right knee soreness), the loss was their fifth in a row.
The Bucks relied heavily on their top two scorers, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton, throughout the night. In fact, the two represented Milwaukee's only double-digit scorers into the fourth quarter.
Middleton got going first, hitting his first three shots to account for seven on Milwaukee's first nine points. By the end of the first quarter, though, Antetokounmpo had already caught and surpassed him with a team-leading 11 points.
Antetokounmpo ultimately put up a team-high 31 points without the benefit of playing in the fourth quarter. When the Bucks' 17-point lead entering the period ballooned to 24 points without Antetokounmpo, Bucks coach Jason Kidd opted to give his star, who averaged the most minutes per game, some well-earned rest.
Antetokounmpo drove, shot and slammed his way to 12 of 18 shooting to go with 10 rebounds and five assists. His final basket of the night came with just under three minutes left in the third quarter when he splashed a 19-foot fadeaway to put a smooth end to his scoring.
Middleton was similarly efficient, finishing with 27 points on 9 of 14 shooting, including 3 of 4 from beyond the 3-point arc. Malcolm Brogdon added 17 points, including eight in the fourth quarter, and Matthew Dellavedova churned out his third straight game of recording at least nine assists, reaching that number while making all three of his shots for eight points in just 17 minutes.
If there was one blemish for the Bucks, it was their interior defense. The Pacers kept the game close in the first half by pounding the paint, led by Domantas Sabonis who finished with 24 points on the bench.
By the game's end, Indiana had 68 points on 34 of 53 shooting in the paint (64.2 percent), but didn't score much from outside that area. The Pacers went 7 of 31 from the field (22.6 percent) on shots outside the paint, including not connecting on such a shot in the fourth quarter until the final minute.
