-
Harris Recounts Call to Pastor After Biden Dropped Out: ‘I Needed a Prayer’ - 15 mins ago
-
Who needs the win more: Dak Prescott or Brock Purdy? | Speak - 21 mins ago
-
Kamala Harris Sprints to Election Day in Her ‘Crunch Time’ Media Blitz - 54 mins ago
-
Steelers, 49ers, Bengals land in Nick’s ‘Potentially Dangerous’ tier of Week 8 | First Things First - about 1 hour ago
-
China and India should manage their differences, Xi tells Modi in first formal talks in 5 years - about 1 hour ago
-
Today’s ‘Wordle’ #1,223 Clues, Hints and Answer for Thursday, October 24 - 2 hours ago
-
Inside Dan Hurley’s ‘pathological, sick and obsessive’ hunger to win a third title - 2 hours ago
-
On this day in history, October 24, 1861, transcontinental telegraph completed, connects coasts for first time - 2 hours ago
-
NYT ‘Connections’ October 24: Clues and Answers for Game #501 - 2 hours ago
-
Lakers win season opener vs. T-Wolves, What did opening night tell you? | Speak - 3 hours ago
Pacers celebrate 1st playoff series victory in a decade, beating Bucks 120-98 in Game 6
Obi Toppin scored 21 points, T.J. McConnell had 20 points and nine assists and the Indiana Pacers won a playoff series for the first time in a decade, beating the Milwaukee Bucks 120-98 in Game 6 on Thursday night.
The Pacers will face the winner of the Philadelphia-New York series in the Eastern Conference semifinals. New York took a 3-2 lead into Game 6 later Thursday.
Indiana’s milestone victory came exactly 30 years after it swept Orlando 3-0 to advance in the NBA playoffs for the first time in franchise history, and it came on a night the Bucks were again without Giannis Antetokounmpo. The two-time league MVP never played after straining his left calf April 9.
Damian Lillard, meanwhile, returned from a right Achilles injury and played well — but was not nearly as dominant as he was in the first two games when he scored 69 points. Lillard finished with 28 points on 7-of-16 shooting.
Bobby Portis Jr. added 20 points and 15 rebounds for Milwaukee. Brook Lopez also had 20 points, and Khris Middleton had 14 points and eight rebounds.
Two-time All-Star Tyrese Haliburton had 17 points, 10 assists and six rebounds for Indiana, and Pascal Siakam finished with 19 points and seven rebounds. Toppin and McConnell each had playoff career-high scoring totals, and McConnell also had four steals.
Indiana went 8-3 against the Bucks this season and handed Milwaukee its second straight first-round exit.
Easy? Not a chance. Indiana turned the game with a 23-3 first-quarter spurt that made it 29-19 and the Pacers never trailed again.
But every time the Bucks charged back the Pacers had an answer.
When Milwaukee cut it to 38-34 early in the second quarter, Indiana scored seven straight points. When the Bucks opened the second half on a 9-4 run to close to 63-56, Indiana responded with a 10-5 run to extend the margin to 12. When Milwaukee got to 85-78 with 6:05 left in the third, McConnell capped an 11-0 run with back-to-back 3-pointers to make it 96-78 early in the fourth.
And the Bucks never recovered as the Pacers extended the lead to 104-84 with 8:07 to play. From that point, it was a festive atmosphere at Gainbridge Fieldhouse with Pacers players being serenaded off the court to a standing ovation.
Reporting by The Associated Press.
[Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account, follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily.]
FOLLOW Follow your favorites to personalize your FOX Sports experience
Get more from National Basketball Association Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more
Source link