Bruce Brown gave Indiana the lead for good with 6:15 remaining, Tyrese Haliburton capped a monster performance with a back-breaking 3-pointer, and the Pacers surprised the top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks 128-119 Thursday in the semifinals of the NBA’s inaugural in-season tournament in Las Vegas.
The victory places the Pacers in Saturday’s final against the Los Angeles Lakers, who beat the New Orleans Pelicans 133-89 in Thursday’s other semifinal.
Indiana led 63-51 at halftime but was down 106-105 approaching the midpoint of the fourth period after a Giannis Antetokounmpo dunk before Brown connected on his go-ahead 13-footer.
The Pacers never trailed after that, with Myles Turner contributing two baskets and two free throws, Brown another basket and four free throws, and Haliburton two baskets, including a 25-footer with 49.1 seconds remaining that extended the Indiana lead to 122-114.
Haliburton finished with a team-high 27 points and a game-high 15 assists for the Pacers, who had beaten the Boston Celtics at home in Tuesday’s quarterfinals to earn the trip to Las Vegas.
Haliburton went 11-for-19 from the field in a game in which the Pacers shot 49 percent overall, easily better than the Bucks’ 44.8 percent.
Turner also notched a double-double for Indiana with 26 points and 10 rebounds, while Buddy Hield grabbed a team-high 11 rebounds to go with eight points.
Obi Toppin added 14 points, Isaiah Jackson 11 and Brown 10 for the Pacers, who also had beaten the Bucks 126-124 at home last month.
Jackson led a five-man bench crew, all with six or more points, that outscored their Milwaukee counterparts 43-13 on Thursday.
Going 13-for-19 from the field and 11-for-13 from the free-throw line, Antetokounmpo scored a game-high 37 points to complement a team-high 10 rebounds for the Bucks, who earned a flight west by beating the New York Knicks at home in Tuesday’s quarterfinals.
On Thursday, Damian Lillard chipped in with 24 points and a team-high seven assists, Khris Middleton had 20 points and Brook Lopez 18 for the Bucks, who lost despite outscoring the Pacers 36-21 on 3-pointers.
Lillard and Middleton each connected on a game-best four 3-pointers.
–Field Level Media
