Pacers 125, Bucks 104
PACERS 125, BUCKS 104: George Hill came off the bench to score 11 of his season-high 24 points in the third quarter as visiting Indiana beat Milwaukee for the third straight time.
Roy Hibbert added 16 points and nine rebounds and Danny Granger and David West had 15 points and seven boards apiece to keep the Pacers percentage points ahead of Atlanta for fifth place in the Eastern Conference.
Indiana dominated the backboards by a 49-37 margin in sending the Bucks to only their second loss in the last nine games.
Ersan Ilyasova scored 22 points to pace the Bucks, who dropped 1 1/2 games behind the New York Knicks for eighth place in the East.
Sparked by West and Granger, Indiana closed the second quarter on a 12-3 run to take a 57-48 lead into halftime.
The Bucks got as close as 65-59 with 8 1/2 minutes left in the third quarter, but the Pacers scored 11 of the next 13 points to pull away. Hill hit all three of his 3-pointers in the period.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Indiana had a huge edge at the free-throw line, converting 32 of 39 compared to Milwaukee's 14 of 18. ... Pacers team president Larry Bird denied a report prior to the game that this will be his last season. ... Milwaukee went over 100 points for the ninth time in the last 10 games. The Bucks averaged 110.4 points in their previous seven games. ... Both teams were playing their third game in as many nights.