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 winner of Thursday’s late semifinal between the Los Angeles Lakers and New Orleans Pelicans.
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