Pascal Siakam scored 24 points and pulled down 11 rebounds and Tyrese Haliburton added 21 points and 12 assists for the Pacers, who saw a 15-point fourth-quarter lead slashed to two thanks to a 13-0 scoring run from the Bucks.
The Pacers held on for a wire-to-wire win, and Western Conference top seeds Oklahoma City also led throughout in defeating Memphis 118-99 – two days after a crushing 51-point victory over the Grizzlies in game one.
Two-time NBA Most Valuable Player Antetokounmpo led all scorers with 34 points, adding 18 rebounds and seven assists.
Nine-time All-Star Lillard, playing his first game in five weeks after undergoing treatment for a blood clot in his right calf, scored 14 points and handed out seven assists in 37 minutes on the floor.
Lillard’s three-pointer with two-and-a-half minutes to play pulled the Bucks within 115-113. But Siakam responded with a three-pointer.
Andrew Nembhard drilled another trey and the Pacers held on. Nembhard added 17 points as six Pacers scored in double figures in a game that was testy throughout.
A brief scuffle in the first quarter resulted in technical fouls for Milwaukee’s Gary Trent Jr. and Indiana’s Bennedict Mathurin. Siakam and Milwaukee’s Bobby Portis received technicals with less than two minutes to play, and there was plenty of jawing in between.
“It’s fun,” Haliburton said. “This is what everybody lives for. We’re all competitors, so having a lot of fun competing right now.”
Meanwhile, in Oklahoma City, the Thunder showed no sign of a letdown after delivering the most lopsided game one victory in NBA playoffs history.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 27 points, Jalen Williams added 24 and Chet Holmgren delivered 20 points, 11 rebounds and five blocked shots for the Thunder, who opened the game on a 9-0 run and led by as many as 23.
Oklahoma City made 12 of their 15 three-pointers in the first half. They led the Grizzlies in fast-beak points 21-3 and out-scored Memphis 54-46 in the paint.
Jaren Jackson Jr. scored 26 points and Ja Morant added 23 for the Grizzlies, who showed signs of life in the third quarter only for Oklahoma City to open the fourth on a 9-0 run.
The Grizzlies wouldn’t get within 15 points the rest of the way. (AFP)
