At 9:00 a.m. Beijing time on December 14, the NBA regular season ushered in a key matchup between Eastern Conference teams, with the Bucks hosting the Pacers. The most recent meeting between the two teams was in the semifinals of the midseason tournament, where the Bucks were lost on both ends of the floor and ended up with a nine-point deficit as the backdrop for the Pacers' dark horse team's rise. After the Bucks got on the court to get revenge on the Bulls, their confidence on both ends of the offensive and defensive ends has been greatly improved, so they will definitely be in better shape when facing the Pacers. Especially Brother Alphabet, he has been the most stable and outstanding player of the Bucks since the season, with a shooting rate of 65% in the past 4 games, scoring 30+ points and winning a double-double.
The Pacers' contrast on both ends of the floor this season has left them unsure of winning games against any team. Because the Pacers have 123.5 offensive efficiency so far, which ranks first in the league. But the defensive efficiency is only 119.7, ranking third from the bottom. Once the Pacers are unable to maintain continuity on the offensive end, they may be overtaken by the opponent or even widen the gap in a short period of time. Of course, Haliburton's impressive growth rate is commendable, averaging 13.8 assists per game in the last four games. On the offensive end, Haliburton is indispensable for the Pacers. The starting lineups of both sides in this game, the Bucks used Antetokounmpo, Lillard, Middleton, Beasley and Big Lopez. The Pacers fielded Turner, Haliburton, Hield, Brown and Toppin.
At the beginning of the first quarter of the game, the two sides fought on the inside, with the Pacers Turner and Toppin scoring baskets one after another, and the Bucks relied on Brother Alphabet to keep up with the rhythm. Then Turner hit a three-pointer from the outside, and Hield and Brown broke through and scored one after another. Haliburton followed up with another three-pointer to hit a 10-2 spurt. The Bucks also quickly adjusted, Beasley hit a timely three-pointer, and Antetokounmpo hit back-to-back shots in the paint area. The Pacers Hield made a three-pointer from the outside, and Haliburton broke through to make it 2+1. But the Bucks Beauchamp, Lillard and Antetokounmpo still firmly attacked the paint area, and Portis hit an outside three-point shot to play an 11-2 lead. At the end of the first quarter, the Bucks led the Pacers by three points, 36-33.
In the second quarter of the game, Brother Alphabet scored a layup and scored 7 points in a row at the beginning. Pacer McConnell broke through to make it 2+1, Turner also scored 4 points in a row under the basket and mid-range, and Haliburton hit a basket. The Bucks, Middleton, and Portis combined for 10 points in several rounds to stabilize the advantage. The Pacers still pushed the fast break counterattack, Haliburton and Mathurin broke through and hit shots one after another. Fortunately, Lillard stepped up in time at the end and scored 11 straight points on an outside three-point shot. Withstood Haliburton's fierce offensive of scoring 13 points in a single quarter. At halftime, the Bucks led the Pacers by seven points, 70-63.
In the halftime statistics, Brother Alphabet scored 21 points, 7 rebounds and 1 assist on 7-of-10 shooting, 3 steals and 1 block. Lillard finished with 13 points, one rebound and four assists on 4-of-10 shooting. Middleton finished with eight points, three rebounds and one assist on 4-of-7 shooting. Portis finished with 14 points, one rebound and one assist on 6-of-8 shooting. For the Pacers, Haliburton had 19 points, five rebounds and six assists on 7-of-11 shooting. Turner had 13 points and six rebounds. Hield had 7 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists. Brown had 2 points, 2 rebounds and 3 assists. Isaiah 6 points.
In the second half of the game, the Pacers Turner and Toppin hit two three-pointers in a row, Haliburton broke through and scored, and Turner scored four more points in a row to narrow the gap to one point. Brother Alphabet scored four points on an aerial relay dunk, and Lillard hit a solid three-pointer from the outside. After hitting his second three-pointer, Lillard moved his career total to 2,451 three-pointers, breaking Korver's record and moving up to fifth in league history. Immediately, the Pacers suddenly lost on the offensive end, and Brother Alphabet led the team to chase after the victory, scoring 17 points on 7-of-10 shooting in a single quarter to further expand the difference. But in the last 2 minutes, the situation of the game reversed again, and the Pacers inside Smith hit an outside three-point shot, leading the team to a wave of 14-5 to close the difference to single digits. At the end of the third quarter, the Bucks led the Pacers by seven points, 101-94.
In the final quarter of the game, Portis got a knife up and down from the outside, but then had a conflict with Topping and was ejected. The Bucks still chose to rush to the basket, scored 20 free throws in a row in a single quarter, and scored 26 points to directly beat the game! At the end of the game, the Bucks won the Pacers 140-126! The full-game data, Brother Alphabet scored 64 points, 14 rebounds and 3 assists on 20 of 28 shots, 4 steals and 1 block, and Brother Alphabet also broke the single-game scoring record in the history of the Bucks. Lillard finished with 21 points, four rebounds and six assists on 6-of-14 shooting. Middleton had 14 points, 9 rebounds and 7 assists. Portis 19 points. For the Pacers, Turner finished with 22 points and nine rebounds on 8-of-14 shooting. Haliburton had 22 points, 5 rebounds, 7 assists and 3 turnovers. Mathurin 14 points.