Red-hot Bucks roll over Pacers

LOS ANGELES – Reigning league MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo scored a game-high 29 points and 12 rebounds as the league-leading Milwaukee Bucks captured the season series from Indiana with a 119-100 win over the Pacers on Wednesday (Thursday, Manila time).

Khris Middleton scored eight of his 20 points in a third-quarter run that gave them the victory and helped the Bucks rebound from a 105-89 loss to Miami two nights earlier.

TJ Warren had a team-high 18 points for Indiana, which had a four-game winning streak stopped. 

Antetokounmpo made all seven of his free throws, as the Bucks sank 20 baskets from the free throw line compared to just nine for the Pacers.

Donte DiVincenzo finished with 19 points, Eric Bledsoe had 16 to go with a team-high seven assists for the Bucks, who have beaten Indiana three times this season and won seven out of their last eight games.

A back-and-forth first half saw the Bucks open the game on a 33-11 run. But the Pacers answered with a run of their own to get within 58-56 at halftime.

Milwaukee used a 26-9 third-quarter surge to turn a one-point game into an 89-71 lead. 

Middleton had a pair of 3-pointers in the decisive burst. Antetokounmpo, Wesley Matthews and Brook Lopez added one apiece, and Bledsoe chipped in with a three-point play. 

The Pacers never made a game of it after that. 

The Bucks also outscored Indiana 39-21 on 3-pointers while outshooting the Pacers 45.7% overall to 43.3%.