Pacers spread the wealth in 109-96 rout of Bucks

[January 09, 2018]  Domantas Sabonis scored 17 points to lead seven Indiana Pacers in double figures as the Pacers beat the Milwaukee Bucks 109-96 on Monday night at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

Sabonis, who came off the bench, hit 8 of 12 shots and grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds.

Myles Turner, Thaddeus Young and Victor Oladipo each scored 15 points for the Pacers (21-19). Turner sank 7 of 10 shots and Young was 7-of-12 from the field. Oladipo was 6-of-11 from the field with five assists.

Bojan Bogdanovic returned after missing one game with an ankle injury to score 11. Darren Collison also had 11 points and seven assists for Pacers and Cory Joseph added 10.

The Pacers, who hit 44 of 79 shots for 55.7 percent, dominated from the middle of the first quarter on, beginning with a 20-0 spurt. Indiana led by as many 29 points in the third quarter. The Bucks closed the gap by outscoring the Pacers 31-21 in the fourth quarter.

The Bucks (21-18) had beaten the Pacers 122-101 in Milwaukee on Wednesday night.

"There are 82 games, so you have to take it one game at a time," Turner said. "But that left a bad taste in our mouth."

Giannis Antetokounmpo, who entered averaging 29.1 points per game, scored 17, hitting just 3 of 8 shots and 11 of 14 free throws. He had a 28-game streak of scoring 20 points or more snapped. Khris Middleton was high for Bucks with 19 points on 6-of-14 shooting. John Henson and Malcolm Brogdon each had 12 points for Milwaukee.

 

Pacers guard Victor Oladipo (4) dribbles the ball while Milwaukee Bucks guard Eric Bledsoe (6) defends in the first half at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports

Oladipo hit a step-back jumper just before the third quarter buzzer to give the Pacers an 88-65 advantage.

The Bucks were 34-of-74 for 45.9 percent for the game.

Indiana sank 28 of 43 (65.1 percent) to take a 64-38 halftime lead. The Bucks hit just 12 of 37 shots (32.4 percent) in the opening half. The Pacers held a 22-15 rebounding edge at intermission.

The Pacers used a blistering 20-0 run to take a 35-14 lead with 37.9 seconds left in the opening quarter. The spurt was capped by a 3-pointer by Joe Young.

Thaddeus Young led a balanced first-half attack with 11 points. Turner and Oladipo each had nine points at the break.

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