The Buck stops here.
Myles Turner scored 23 points, and the Indiana Pacers won, going away, 129-103 on Sunday night to grab a commanding 3-1 lead in their Eastern Conference playoff series with the Milwaukee Bucks, who lost Damian Lillard to a lower left leg injury.
The Pacers can eliminate and do away with the Bucks in the first round in back-to-back years by winning Game 5 on Tuesday in Indianapolis. The Bucks have dropped eight straight road playoff games and the last five of those defeats have come at Indiana.
The Bucks will probably have to try ending that streak without Lillard.
The seven-time all-NBA guard was helped off the court and into the locker room after suffering a non-contact injury midway through the first quarter.
“They’re going to do an image tomorrow,” Bucks coach Doc Rivers said. “Obviously, it’s lower leg. And just being honest, it’s not very promising.”
The preliminary examination of Lillard indicated a possible Achilles tendon injury, a source with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press. Further evaluation will take place on Monday, the person told the AP on condition of anonymity because the team did not immediately reveal those details.
“Once he kind of looked back, I think we all kind of knew what it was,” Turner said. “It’s a weird feeling to describe because you have to still compete, you have to get out there, but you just never want to see that happen to another athlete who puts in as much time as he does to his craft and to his game, like we all do.
“It’s very disheartening, but it happens fast. It’s the playoffs. You have to be able to move on.”
The Pacers led by three, 15-12, when Lillard had to leave the game and took control without him. Indiana shot a blistering 60.2% from the floor, and eight Pacers scored in double figures.
Aaron Nembhard scored 20 points, and Tyrese Haliburton got 17 points and 15 dimes. T.J. McConnell had 15 points off the bench, Aaron Nesmith 14 and Obi Toppin 13. Pascal Siakam and Jarace Walker added 12 points each.
Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo had a double-double with a game-high 28 points, with 15 rebounds and six assists before leaving with 4:44 left and the Bucks trailing by 22, 120-98. Kevin Porter Jr. added 23 points for the Bucks.
Antetokounmpo was the only Bucks starter to score over six points. Kyle Kuzma continued to struggle in the series by scoring only three points and shooting 1-of-6.
48 hours after blowing a 10-point halftime lead in a 117-101 loss at Milwaukee, the Pacers bounced back. They won in convincing fashion despite missing one of their contributors Bennedict Mathurin, who was out with an abdominal bruise.
Turner, who had scored six points while shooting 1-of-9 from the floor in Game 3 on Friday, had nine points in the first four-and-a-half minutes alone on Sunday as the Pacers led wire-to-wire.
The Pacers went on a 10-3 run immediately after Lillard’s exit to extend their lead to double digits. Milwaukee could not get the deficit under five points the rest of the first half and trailed by 11, 63-52 at halftime.
Indiana stayed in control the rest of the way by shooting 69.2% in the second half.
This matchup between two familiar foes from the same division continued the intensity and raw emotion that has been on full display throughout this series.
A double technical was called on Porter and Nesmith in the second quarter. Milwaukee’s Bobby Portis received a taunting foul in the third quarter after standing over Nesmith and trying to grab the ball from the Pacers forward, who had taken a tumble on a drive to the basket. Walker and Milwaukee’s Ryan Rollins received a double technical in the third period.
