INDIANAPOLIS (AP) Indiana center Myles Turner found a simple lesson from last week’s Game 1 loss.
When you find the openings, take photos without hesitation.
Turner applied his new strategy effectively on Sunday night and it worked perfectly again. He had his second straight game with 29 points, finished with nine rebounds and four assists and made seven 3-pointers as the Pacers broke the franchise’s NBA playoff record with 22 3s and defeated Milwaukee 126-113 for a 3-1 lead in the best match. -of-seven series.
“After that first game, we watched a lot of film and I saw some holes in the defense and realized there were open shots we could exploit,” Turner said. “A lot of it is read and react, which is pretty much our entire offense.”
Turner’s play in the last two games has changed the series.
He has top scores in the playoffs twice and on a team of sharpshooters, Sunday night was perhaps the best. While Indiana went 22 of 43 from beyond the arc, Turner was 7 of 9 and even heard his name chanted by fans who once thought he should be traded.
Instead, Turner has the Pacers returning to Milwaukee for Game 5 with three straight wins and needing one more to reach the Eastern Conference semifinals for the first time since 2014. The Bucks, meanwhile, are trying to avoid a second straight first-round exit. .
Sure, the Bucks played Sunday without two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo and eight-time All-Star Damian Lillard due to injuries. Antetokounmpo hasn’t played since April 9, when he strained his left calf, while Lillard had a walking boot protecting his right foot after hurting his Achilles tendon in Friday night’s overtime loss.
Both could also miss Tuesday’s game.
But health has been less of an issue for Milwaukee this season than the matchups, as Indiana has won seven of nine matchups.
And it was more of the same Sunday.
Tyrese Haliburton scored 24 points, his second straight playoff career high, Andrew Nembhard finished with 15 points and nine rebounds and Pascal Siakam added 13 points, nine rebounds and seven assists.
“We knew going into the game that we were going to have to trap more and do things that we traditionally don’t do,” Bucks coach Doc Rivers said. “I thought we were stuck there, really.”
They just couldn’t even do the series. Brook Lopez led the Bucks with 27 points and nine rebounds, and Khris Middleton added 25 points, 10 rebounds and five assists despite playing with a sprained right ankle and four fouls for much of the second half.
Part of the problem was depth, which could prove difficult again on Tuesday night.
Middleton hurt his left ankle during the second half, backup guard Pat Connaughton injured his ribs and starting forward Bobby Portis Jr. was ejected with 5:01 left in the first quarter after he and Andrew Nembhard were involved in a shoving match. Portis committed two technical fouls during the play, part of a six-technical first half.
“It was a tough break for us, no doubt about that,” Rivers said when asked about Portis’ early departure. “Playoff games are emotional, they really are, and they were. You can’t get it back once it happens.”
Still, the Pacers struggled to capitalize, finishing the back-and-forth first half with just a 67-64 lead.
But after Lopez opened the third quarter with a basket, Haliburton responded with three straight 3-pointers to give the Pacers a 76-66 lead. The Bucks never fully recovered as Indiana extended the margin to 95-78 on Obi Toppin’s layup with 2:24 left in the quarter.
Milwaukee finally started to cut the deficit late in the third quarter, opening the fourth with seven straight points to make it 98-92.
Indiana answered with a 10-2 run to rebuild a 108-94 cushion with 7:25 to play, and Turner helped put the scoring away with a pair of late three-pointers before both teams returned their starters to the bank.
“I didn’t know when I hit the three they were chanting my name. I saw it after that,” Turner said. “But it was very special, knowing how much this city means to me and having my family here, it was very special.”
—
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA
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