Bucks on brink of 1st-round elimination for 3rd straight season, after blowout loss — Lillard left with Achilles injury
MILWAUKEE — The Milwaukee Bucks are a loss away from being eliminated in the first round of the NBA playoffs for the third consecutive season.
Giannis Antetokounmpo had 28 points, 15 rebounds and six assists, but the Indiana Pacers won 129-103.
Oshkosh, Wis., native, Tyrese Haliburton had 17 points, 15 assists and eight rebounds for the Pacers, who were 111-84 after three quarters and outscored Milwaukee by nine in the fourth.
The Bucks were without Damian Lillard for most of the game. The 34-year-old left in the first in the first quarter with an apparent Achilles tendon injury. He was helped off the court and to the locker room.
Indiana shot a blistering 60.2% from the field and 46.2% (18-for-39) from beyond the arc. Meanwhile, the Bucks hit a solid 15 of 37 from deep (40.5%), but barely shot better from the field at 41.6%.
The only other players to score in double figures for the Bucks were Bobby Portis, going 6-for-10 with 14, and Kevin Porter Jr., who had 23 points on 9-of-17 shooting.
TOP PHOTO: FILE – Milwaukee Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Utah Jazz Monday, Nov. 25, 2019, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Aaron Gash)