Gary Trent Jr.’s career night, aggressive defense give Bucks new life in series vs. Pacers

Jr. scored a career-high 44 points and the Milwaukee Bucks fought back from the brink of elimination with a 127-121 victory over the Indiana Pacers on Friday night to force a deciding game seven in their playoff series.

The Bucks turned up the defensive pressure in the second half, holding the Pacers to just 39 points after halftime and overcoming a 22-point deficit late in the third quarter.

“We knew that we had to make a shift, and we did that collectively,” Bucks guard Jr. said. “Everybody just kept fighting and we just kept chipping away. We didn’t want to go home.”

Jr. did most of his damage from beyond the 3-point line, connecting on 10 of his 19 attempts from distance. He had scored just 11 points combined in the Bucks’ two losses in Indianapolis, including zero in the first game.

“I had no choice,” Jr. said of his improved play. “I wasn’t playing good basketball and that wasn’t helping our team. But that’s just me challenging myself, knowing that my talent and my ability can help this team and I just wasn’t doing it. So I made a conscious effort to do that.”

Khris Middleton added 21 points, Bobby Portis had 20 points and 11 rebounds, and Jr. also had eight rebounds and four assists.

The Bucks were able to withstand a monster game from Indiana’s Domantas Sabonis, who finished with 36 points and 22 rebounds.

“He was great on the glass, he was aggressive offensively, he was posting up, he was shooting the midrange,” Jr. said of Sabonis. “He was doing everything. We just wanted to make him work harder and harder and harder and eventually he would make a mistake or miss.”

The Bucks were able to take their first lead since early in the third quarter when Jr. drained a 3-pointer with 4:27 left in the game to make it 111-110.

From there, Jr. and the Bucks never looked back. Jr. scored 20 of his points in the second half, including a personal 10-0 run in the fourth quarter that gave the Bucks a cushion they would not relinquish.

“He just took the game over,” Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said. “He played aggressive, he was fantastic. And when he plays like that, he’s really tough to guard.”

The Bucks shot a much better percentage from the field in game six after struggling to find their shot in game five. They shot 47.6% from the field and 41.7% from 3-point range.

“This is a tough cover for us because of Jr., Portis, Khris, all those guys,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. “They have a lot of guys who can put the ball in the basket, and they did that tonight.”

The Bucks also did a much better job limiting turnovers after a sloppy game five. They gave up 24 points off turnovers in the loss, but had just six turnovers in game six.

“We couldn’t afford to have a letup, give them confidence, give them life,” Middleton said. “So we did a good job of making sure we didn’t have any lulls.”

Now, the Bucks will have to win one for the road in Indianapolis on Sunday to advance to the second round. They will be without guard George Hill, who suffered a sprained ankle in the first quarter of game six and did not return.

But after the way they played when their season was on the line, the Bucks like their chances.

“We’re a confident group,” Portis said. “It’s not just a one-man show. We have a team that’s very confident, and when we play defence like that, we’re a tough team to beat.”