After an impressive victory against Miami for their first win of the season, the Indiana Pacers failed to mount their first win streak of the campaign, bowing to the defending champions Milwaukee Bucks 119-109 at home to fall to 1-3 in the early going.
The Bucks once again paraded an incomplete lineup, missing Jrue Holiday, Brook Lopez and Bobby Portis. Still, their two-headed monster of Giannis Antetokounmpo (30 points, 10 rebounds, nine assists) and Khris Middleton (27 points, five rebounds, seven assists) proved too much for the Pacers to handle. Grayson Allen chipped in as well, finishing with 19 markers on four three-pointers.
Meanwhile, usual suspects Malcolm Brogdon (25 points and seven assists) and Domantas Sabonis (21 points, 13 rebounds, five assists) paced Indiana once again, with rookie Chris Duarte managing to rack up 18 points despite facing tough defense. However, for the second game in a row, Myles Turner was plagued by foul trouble, playing a measly 14 minutes.
Milwaukee led throughout the game, with the Pacers only flirting in the second quarter where they shaved the lead to three and in the middle of the fourth frame, where they trimmed the lead to five before an altercation between Goga Bitadze, George Hill and Middleton disrupted play, and eventually, their momentum, faltering in the last stretch.
With a tough string of games still awaiting the Indiana Pacers, here are player grades from their loss to the Milwaukee Bucks, starting with the MVP for the Blue and Gold in this contest.