Pacers win first playoff series in 10 years, eliminate Bucks 4-2
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Obi Toppin scored 21 points, T.J. McConnell had 20 points and nine assists, and the Indiana Pacers won a playoff series for the first time in a decade, beating the Milwaukee Bucks 120-98 in Game 6 on Thursday night.
The Pacers will face the New York Knicks in the Eastern Conference semifinals. New York defeated the Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday.
After first-round losses in their last five playoff appearances, the Pacers rode hot shooting and solid bench play to victory before 17,274 fans at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
Indiana’s milestone win came exactly 30 years after it swept Orlando 3-0 to advance in the NBA playoffs for the first time in franchise history, and it came on a night the Bucks again were without Giannis Antetokounmpo. The two-time league MVP never played after straining his left calf April 9.
Damian Lillard, meanwhile, returned from a right Achilles injury and played well—but was not nearly as dominant as he was in the first two games when he scored 69 points. Lillard finished with 28 points on 7-of-16 shooting.
Bobby Portis Jr. added 20 points and 15 rebounds for Milwaukee. Brook Lopez also had 20 points, and Khris Middleton had 14 points and eight rebounds.
Two-time All-Star Tyrese Haliburton had 17 points, 10 assists and six rebounds for Indiana, and Pascal Siakam finished with 19 points and seven rebounds. Toppin and McConnell, who both came off the bench, each had playoff career-high scoring totals. McConnell shot 7-of-9 from the field, hit both his 3-point attempts and had four steals.
Indiana went 8-3 against the Bucks this season and handed Milwaukee its second straight first-round exit.
Easy? Not a chance. Indiana turned the game with a 23-3 first-quarter spurt that made it 29-19 and the Pacers never trailed again.
But every time the Bucks charged back the Pacers had an answer.
When Milwaukee cut it to 38-34 early in the second quarter, Indiana scored seven straight points. When the Bucks opened the second half on a 9-4 run to close to 63-56, Indiana responded with a 10-5 run to extend the margin to 12. When Milwaukee got to 85-78 with 6:05 left in the third, McConnell capped an 11-0 run with back-to-back 3-pointers to make it 96-78 early in the fourth.
And the Bucks never recovered as the Pacers extended the lead to 104-84 with 8:07 to play. From that point, it was a festive atmosphere at Gainbridge Fieldhouse with Pacers players being serenaded off the court to a standing ovation.