Team Report: Getting Inside
The Indiana Pacers, winners of four of their past five games, hope to go into the All-Star break on a high note when they host the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday.
The Pacers and Bucks have played twice this season, with each team successfully defending its home court. The Pacers should have won both meetings, but Milwaukee’s Mo Williams made a three-pointer at the buzzer to beat them in early November. The Pacers bounced back and beat the Bucks handily 112-88 in early January. Stephen Jackson led the Pacers with 24 points in that game. Indiana has won 39 of 70 meetings against Milwaukee in Indianapolis. Bucks guard Michael Redd, who was left off the All-Star team, is averaging 20 points a game, but only shooting 30 percent from the field against the Pacers this season. REPLAY: Missed opportunities put an end to the Indiana Pacers’ four-game winning streak. The Pacers put up a fight, but came up short in their 92-88 loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday afternoon. " It was a tough one," Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. "A tough, tough way to lose. The guys fought so hard to get a lead, but lost it." The Pacers had a five-point lead with less than two minutes left in the game when they were called for a defensive three-second violation and the Spurs’ Manu Ginobili made a 34-foot three-pointer to bring the Spurs within one. The Pacers had a couple of chances to stay in the game after falling behind. Stephen Jackson missed a 17-foot jumper with 13 seconds left and Fred Jones missed out on an opportunity to tie the game when he missed a lay-up with 6.9 seconds remaining. Jackson led the Pacers with 17 points on 4-of-13 shooting. Peja Stojakovic added 16 points for Indiana. "(San Antonio) made great plays down the stretch," Carlisle said. "We had chances. Unfortunately, we’re going to walk away empty handed."
