3 Positives, 1 negative from Pacers thrilling last-minute win vs. Bucks

Man, that was a great showing. Following two wins in a row, the Indiana Pacers and their new city uniforms welcomed the Milwaukee Bucks to town, led by the one and only Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Before we get started, this was not the typical Antetokounmpo we are known to see, as The Greek Freak came into Thursday's matchup angry and looking for a point to prove after getting ejected on a bogus call in the Bucks' last game against Detroit.

As such, the Bucks knew they would have a problem on their hands with the already tough-to-guard Antetokounmpo having an extra layer of anger going into this game due to how the last one ended.

One positive for the Pacers? The Bucks came into this matchup short-handed, as Damian Lillard was listed out prior to the game due to calf soreness. While the Pacers would come into the game with a clean bill of health, that would quickly change, as backup center Jalen Smith would be ruled out shortly into the game with back soreness.

Nonetheless, the Pacers pressed forward and surprised Milwaukee from the jump, building up an early 18-point lead in the first quarter before Giannis Antetokounmpo's brilliance caught up to them, and Milwaukee started to take back control. In the end, however, despite a brilliant 54 points from The Greek Freak, the Pacers held strong and came away with the win 124-126 due to some late-game heroics we will talk about later.

This was perhaps the best Pacers game of the year, as they took control early on, but the Bucks came back and made it a very competitive game behind the performance of Giannis and 19 points from a recovering Khris Middleton before the Pacers pulled away in the final seconds and ultimately came away with the win. There were plenty of things that stood out from this game, so let's get into them.