INDIANAPOLIS — The counterpunch the Indiana Pacers were expecting from the Milwaukee Bucks finally landed. The Bucks overcame a 10-point halftime deficit to beat Indiana 117-101 in Game 3 Friday night.
The win put the Bucks back in the series, trailing 2-1.
“We were bad on both sides of the ball,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. “They were great; we were bad.”
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Both teams started the game with abysmal shooting, a combined 11 of 46 (23.9 percent) from 3 in the first half. But with five minutes to play in the second quarter, the Pacers went on a 19-8 run to take a 57-47 lead into the locker room.
“I thought we got a lot of good looks in the first half. (They) just didn’t drop for us,” Pacers point guard Tyrese Haliburton said. “We got a lot of good looks that just didn’t fall, and that theme kind of carried throughout the rest of the game.”
No team has come back from being down 3-0 in a playoff series, and the Bucks entered Game 3 with their backs against the wall. Indiana had an opportunity to crush Milwaukee’s hopes in the series but could not keep their foot on the Bucks’ necks.
rematch on Sunday night. pic.twitter.com/292S1t6iVU
— Indiana Pacers (@Pacers) April 26, 2025
In the opening minute of the second half, Milwaukee trailed by 12, but the Bucks outscored the Pacers 39-18 and eventually turned that deficit into an 86-75 lead. Gary Trent Jr. hit five 3-pointers, and the Bucks shot 61.9 percent (13 of 21) from the floor, leaving the Pacers reeling. Indiana managed just six total field goals (6 of 19) and made 1 of 9 on 3s.
In the fourth quarter, the Pacers’ offensive struggles continued, and they saw their deficit grow to 20 points. Indiana managed to score just 44 points in the second half.
“We made some early defensive mistakes in the second half. We did some things that we weren’t supposed to be doing,” Carlisle said. “We gave up a couple of 3s, (their) momentum got going, and (we) got rolled,” Carlisle said.
In the first two games of the series, with Milwaukee veteran Damian Lillard not producing much offensively, the Bucks failed to find scoring support for star Giannis Antetokounmpo, and his two 30-plus point performances weren’t enough to carry them. But Trent, who started at shooting guard in place of Taurean Prince, emerged as much-needed help, lighting up the Pacers with 37 points. He made 9 of 12 beyond the arc, tying Ray Allen’s franchise record for most 3s in a Bucks playoff game.
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Haliburton struggled throughout the night, and chants of “overrated” rained from the Milwaukee crowd. After a 21-point performance in Game 2, he was held to 14 points. Haliburton made 5 of 11 from the field, including 4 of 9 from 3, and while he also had 10 assists, it was the first time in the series he’d had less than 12.
“We didn’t get enough stops. That’s probably the most they’ve scored in a quarter in the series,” Haliburton said. “We didn’t get enough stops without us playing in transition where we’re at our best. Our high court offense got a little stagnant. We were playing on our heels a little bit. That starts with me. We’ve got to a better job of getting downhill from the jump. I don’t see that happening again. That third quarter really came back to bite us.”
In the first half, Pascal Siakam and Aaron Nesmith shot 6-for-9 from the floor, while the rest of the Pacers were an ice-cold 11-for-32. Siakam finished with 28 points on 12-of-19 shooting, and Nesmith scored 18, connecting on 7 of 13 from the floor and 4 of 8 from 3.
“I thought they had more physicality than us. They played a lot harder than we did,” Siakam said of the Bucks. “We just got to go back, learn from it and come back and do better as a team.”
In the first two games, the Pacers had six players in double figures giving them a balanced scoring attack to complement solid defensive showings. Friday night, Haliburton was the only other scorer in double figures.
Center Myles Turner also labored offensively, making only one of his nine field-goal attempts and none of his six tries from 3. Andrew Nembhard, who has been critical for the Pacers on both ends of the floor in the first two games of the series, was a quiet 2-for-8 from the field. Both finished with six points.
Game 4 of the series tips off at 9:30 p.m. ET Sunday at Fiserv Forum.
(Photo of Giannis Antetokounmpo: John Fisher / Getty Images)
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