By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
The Indiana Pacers’ great run in the ongoing NBA In-Season Tournament continued after shocking the Milwaukee Bucks, 128-119, during the semifinal round last December 8, 2023.
With the win, the Pacers just arranged a highly-anticipated In-Season Tournament grand finals clash against LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers.
Huge buckets from Bruce Brown and Tyrese Haliburton helped the Pacers get out of a slight disadvantage midway through the fourth quarter.
After the duo joined hands that sparked a massive Indiana offensive snowball, Milwaukee never retook the lead and was playing catch up in the last five minutes of the ball game.
Haliburton led the charge for the Pacers after flaunting another double-double performance of 27 points, 15 assists, seven rebounds, and a steal.
Meanwhile, Myles Turner held the fort for the Pacers in the final three minutes after scoring back-to-back buckets that kept Indiana in the driver’s seat.
The veteran bruising center finished the In-Season semis clash with an impressive 26-point performance alongside 10 rebounds, three blocks, two dimes, and a steal.
Indiana immediately blew the game wide open in the first half as they entered the last two quarters with a 12-point lead.
However, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton didn’t back down and led the Milwaukee fight back in the third quarter.
The Bucks looked to take full control of the game after erasing Indiana’s double-digit lead but timely baskets from the trio of Haliburton, Brown, and Turner helped the Pacers advance.
Indiana made Milwaukee work for every rebound and edged them in the boards department, 51-46 in the defensive rebounding and 15-12 in the offensive side.
The Pacers also moved the ball well during their hard-earned win and out-assisted Milwaukee by double digits, 30-19.
Indiana will have two more days to prepare before their highly-anticipated In-Season championship game against the Lakers on December 10, 2023.
