Bucks defeat Pacers for fifth straight win
MILWAUKEE -- Khris Middleton and Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 21 points each as the Milwaukee Bucks extended their winning streak to a season-high five games with a 99-85 victory over the Indiana Pacers Friday night at the Bradley Center.
The victory moved Milwaukee a half-game ahead of Chicago for the eighth and final Eastern Conference playoff spot, and 1 1/2 games behind the Pacers for the sixth seed.
Middleton hit 7 of 14 shots with three 3-pointers while Antetokounmpo went 7-for-13 from the field and 6-for-6 from the free-throw line, along with eight rebounds and five assists.
Milwaukee shot 51.6 percent and made 7 of 17 3-pointers while going 26-for-30 from the free-throw line.
Paul George led the Pacers with 18 points but went 5-for-14 from the floor and missed all five of his 3-point attempts. The Pacers shot 45 percent as a team but struggled from long range, hitting just 2 of 17 attempts and gave up 22 points on 20 turnovers.
The Pacers started out strong, jumping out to a 10-0 lead.
Greg Monroe scored eight in the opening quarter as Milwaukee closed to within four, but George scored nine in the second to send the Pacers into halftime up, 50-45.
Middleton put the Bucks ahead on a 3-pointer with 8:35 left in the third as the Bucks went 10-for-11 from the free-throw line while hitting 9 of 16 shots from the floor to take a 74-68 lead into the fourth..
Milwaukee went up 143 -- its biggest lead of the game -- on a Middleton 3-pointer with two minutes left to make it a 97-83 game.
NOTES: Milwaukee was without PG Malcolm Brogdon (back soreness) and F Mirza Teletovic (strained hamstring) while F Michael Beasley missed his sixth game since hyperextending his left knee. ... With Brogdon out, Matthew Dellavedova moved back into the Bucks' starting lineup for the first time since Feb. 27. ... Friday marked the first game in a five-game stretch for Pacers against teams chasing them for playoff position. ... Indiana has not won consecutive games since its seven-game winning streak was snapped Feb. 6. ... The Pacers have dropped three in a row to Milwaukee this season, losing by an average of 16.0 points per game.