The Milwaukee Bucks, for the third straight year, will be taking an early exit in the NBA Playoffs, losing to the Indiana Pacers for the second year in a row, in a 119-118 overtime heartbreaker. Giannis had his fourth playoff triple-double with 30 points, 20 rebounds, and 13 assists. After a rough first half, Gary Trent Jr. finished the night with 33 points on 8/17 from three and five steals. Tyrese Haliburton finished the night as the Pacers’ leading scorer with 26 points and nine assists.

NBA.com Box Score

Game Recap

After running with the much-maligned starting group that included Kyle Kuzma and Brook Lopez through all four games of the series, Doc Rivers opted to throw in AJ Green and Bobby Portis into the starting lineup next to Giannis, Gary Trent Jr., and Kevin Porter Jr. (in for the injured Damian Lillard). That group came out guns blazing with a 13-0 run in the first four and a half minutes, before Myles Turned finally scored Indy’s first bucket. Despite ending the run, the Bucks’ defense continued to bring havoc, clamping down on the Pacers at every turn. After Indy finally got into double figures, Milwaukee scored six of the final eight points to take a 30-13 lead heading into the second quarter. Turner would end up being the leading scorer for the Pacers after one with just five points.

After a Kyle Kuzma three opened up the second frame, the Pacers seemed to find their initial footing, going on an 8-0 run to bring the game within 12. The Bucks were able to regain their 17-point lead, but then entered a scoring drought that lasted almost three minutes, allowing the Pacers to slowly creep back into the game. Two more corner threes were part of a 12-2 Indy run to cut the lead down to just seven points with 3:10 to go in the half. Green’s fourth three of the half stopped the bleeding and got the Bucks back up by 10. The ridiculous corner three-point shooting helped the Pacers once again, as Aaron Nesmith hit one over Green. Overall, the Pacers would end up outscoring the Bucks 28-17 to cut a lead that was as high as 20 down to just six entering the locker room at halftime.

After a couple of early Bucks buckets kept the Pacers down by eight, Indy went on a 9-0 run to take their first lead of the night. 29% regular season three-point shooter Andrew Nembhard hit a 30-foot bomb to give the Pacers a one-point lead, forcing Doc Rivers to call a timeout. The two sides went back and forth with each other for most of the quarter, yet the Bucks would build a four-point lead thanks to a 9-2 run with 5:01 left in the third. Milwaukee would keep Indy at that four-point mark until Bucks playoff killer T.J. McConnell got to work. McConnell scored six of the final eight points for the Pacers, including a layup to give them a two-point lead with 10 seconds left. Bennedict Mathurin fouled Porter with 0.8 seconds left on a three-point shot. He would go 2/3 from the line, setting the stage for a tied game, 75-75, heading into the fourth quarter.

The Pacers came out swinging to start, scoring four straight points on Nesmith and McConnell buckets. McConnell kept giving the Bucks fits, scoring six points in the frame and assisting on a thunderous dunk from Turner. The dunk forced a timeout from Doc Rivers to resettle the troops with the Bucks down by five. It seemed to work, the Bucks going on a 9-0 run to take a four-point lead before Siakam got a wide-open layup to cut the lead back down to two. After Trent started 0/7 from three, he rebounded to go 4/5 in the later part of the third quarter, including some big buckets down the stretch. The Bucks were down by two with the shot clock running out, but Trent nailed a three, followed by a massive three from Green to give the Bucks a four-point lead with a minute and 20 seconds to go. Tyrese Haliburton came up big for the Pacers, scoring four straight points to tie the game with 10.8 seconds left. Giannis was able to get up a fading mid-range jumper, but it hit off the far rim, sending the game to overtime with the game set at 103-103.

It was the GTJ show in overtime, putting him up there with some of the most legendary playoff performances in Bucks history. Trent put up 12 points on 4/4 shooting from the three-point line, including a shot after Nesmith scored five straight points after an Indy timeout. The shot gave the Bucks a four-point lead with 1:08 to go. A Green free throw gave them a seven-point lead with 40 seconds left. Despite playing the hero in the fourth and most of overtime, it was Trent who blew the door open for Indy to come back into the game. He threw a terrible turnover right to Nembhard after he hit a three to cut the lead to four, leading to a three-point play for Haliburton on the other end after being fouled by Green. After the Bucks broke the Pacers’ press, Green fired a pass to Trent, but the ball squirted through his hands and out of bounds, giving the Pacers one final chance to win the game. It was the Bucks’ ultimate villain in Haliburton, who blew by Giannis to score with one second left. Trent’s last-second heave was way off, and for the third straight year, the Bucks bow out in the first round of the playoffs.

Stat That Stood Out

There’s only one stat that matters: eight points in 40 seconds. After Green went 1/2 from the free throw line, the Pacers rallied in just 40 seconds to knock the Bucks out of the playoffs for the second straight year.

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