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National Basketball Association
Milwaukee 125, Indiana 107
When: 8:00 PM ET, Thursday, November 3, 2016
Where: BMO Harris Bradley Center, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Officials: #34 Kevin Cutler, #5 Kane Fitzgerald, #22 Bill Spooner
Attendance: 11374

MILWAUKEE -- Heading into the season, most observers didn't quite know what to make of the Milwaukee Bucks but one thing they could agree on was Jabari Parker seemed poised for a breakout season.

And Thursday night, Parker showed a flash of what that might entail, knocking down a career-high four 3-pointers and finishing with a season-best 27 points to lead Milwaukee to a 125-107 victory over the Indiana Pacers at the Bradley Center.

"He was great tonight," Bucks coach Jason Kidd said. "You look at what Jabari did tonight, catch-and-shoot, making plays for his teammates, he scored, he made the extra pass. That's his game. He's the total package. People look at him as a scorer, but he can find open guys and he did a great job of that tonight. He competed on the defensive end. We asked him to guard (Paul) George at times and he did a good job with that."

Parker hit 11 of 17 shots to pace a Bucks' offense that shot a season-best 58 percent from the field and hit 12 of 27 attempts from beyond the arc.

Giannis Antetokounmpo matched Parker with 27 of his own by hitting 11 of 18 shots. Greg Monroe finished with 16 points and 16 rebounds.

Tony Snell knocked down a pair of 3-pointers to finish with 14 and rookie reserve Malcom Brogdon added 12.

"We played really well against a playoff team," Parker said. "They have 10 guys who can be starters but we did a good job holding them to difficult shots and limited their second-chance shots, which is a strength on their end."

Paul George led the Pacers with 23 points but shot 9 of 20. Reserve CJ Miles added 19 for Indiana, which shot 46.9 percent, made 10 of 23 shots but allowed 34 points off 21 turnovers.

Jeff Teague scored 16 points but went 4 of 11 from the field.

"We're not tied together," Miles said. "You can see it. You can see it. We're not showing no spirit, no heart. "You don't see guys getting excited about anything. Even when we make good plays and get back in the game, you see guys kind of like it's almost like they're hanging it over their head. Man, all right. Finally got back in it. You got to play basketball and have fun doing it."

Behind 12 points from Parker, Milwaukee built a 63-57 halftime lead. He added nine more in the third as the Bucks broke the game open, going ahead by as many as 17.

The Bucks' defense held Indiana scoreless to open the fourth quarter but George snapped the drought with a 3-pointer at the 9:24 mark. George's shot kicked off a 9-0 run to make it a 97-88 game with eight minutes to play but Milwaukee recovered with layups from Antetokounmpo and Monroe to put the lead back into double digits.

"They made a run but nobody lost their composure," Kidd said. "They went out and executed. I thought the guys did a great job of withstanding their run and answering by getting a score."

Indiana got within seven but a Snell 3-pointer and a reverse alley-oop from Antetokounmpo to Miles Plumlee put Milwaukee back up 12 with 3:12 to play and rookie Thon Maker iced it with back-to-back 3-pointers in the final minute.

"They kept it going," George said. "They kept it on us, give them credit. We made plays. We made shots down the stretch, but they answered back. That's what you're supposed to do when a team makes a run. You're supposed to answer back when you have the lead. They did that."

NOTES: Pacers SG Rodney Stuckey remained sidelined with a sore right hamstring. He's appeared in just two games this season, playing a total of 26 minutes after getting hurt last Friday in Brooklyn ... Through the five games of the season, Bucks F Giannis Antetokounmpo is the only player in the NBA averaging over 23.0 points, 9.0 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 2.0 blocks per contest. ... Indiana began the day ranked fifth in the NBA in assists (26.3 per game) and added 31 more Thursday on 38 makes. ... The Bucks are 3-0 this season when scoring 100 points or more and have recorded 30 or more assists in back-to-back games. ... Indiana won the season series, 3-1, a year ago and has won two in a row at Milwaukee. The Pacers are 14-6 against the Bucks dating back to the 2011-12 season.
Top Game Performances
 
Indiana   Milwaukee
Paul George 23 Scoring Giannis Antetokounmpo 27
Monta Ellis 10 Assists Giannis Antetokounmpo 9
Al Jefferson 7 Rebounds Greg Monroe 16
Jeff Teague 7 Free Throws Made Giannis Antetokounmpo 5
Monta Ellis 3 Steals Malcolm Brogdon 3
Paul George 3 Blocks Giannis Antetokounmpo 2
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Indiana 107 46.9 10-23 21-27 29 32 4 14 21
Milwaukee 125 57.3 12-27 19-24 32 41 6 10 21
Upcoming Games
  • Milwaukee will play their next game at home against Sacramento. The Bucks have a W/L % of .333 after a win and 1.000 after a loss.
  • Indiana will play their next game at home against Chicago. The Pacers have a W/L % of .000 after a win and .667 after a loss.