Less than one week ago, the Indiana Pacers and Milwaukee Bucks squared off in Las Vegas with a spot in the inaugural In-Season Tournament final on the line. Indiana managed to pick up a win and earn a matchup with the Los Angeles Lakers, while the Bucks went home a little earlier than they’d like.
Fast forward to Wednesday and Giannis Antetokounmpo was able to help his team pick up a win by setting a new career high, along with a franchise record, in scoring. Milwaukee took down Indiana, 140-126, behind a remarkable, 64-point night by the two-time NBA MVP.
Antetokounmpo was 20 of 28 from the field, made 24 of 32 free throws and had 14 rebounds.
Antetokounmpo was tackled by Aaron Nesmith on a play underneath with 10:10 remaining, setting off a brief heated exchange involving several players. Nesmith was called for a flagrant-1, and Nesmith and the Bucks´ Bobby Portis were assessed technical fouls.
Antetokounmpo hit both free throws, and Khris Middleton hit a jumper on the next possession to put the Bucks up 108-96. Portis was called for a second technical and ejected with 9:13 remaining, finishing with 19 points.
Antetokounmpo scored seven straight for the Bucks to push the lead to 118-100 with 6:26 left.
Damian Lillard added 21 points for the Bucks. Lillard´s second 3-pointer with 8:06 left in the third quarter was the 2,451st of his career, moving past Kyle Korver for fifth place in NBA history.
Tyrese Haliburton and Myles Turner had 22 points apiece for the Pacers, who beat the Bucks 128-119 in the semifinals of the In-Season Tournament on Thursday night.
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Antetokounmpo scored on a drive to put the Bucks up 96-80 with 3:40 left in the third period, but the Pacers to 101-94 entering the final period.
Antetokounmpo had 21 points in the first half to pace the Bucks to 70-63 lead.
It looked like the Bucks were going to try and call it a night for him once he got to 58 points and the team held a 131-112 lead, as Adrian Griffin subbed out his starters. But Indiana was able to storm back and make things a little closer for comfort, which led to Antetokounmpo and co. going back into the game. As a result, he was able to eclipse the 60-point mark.
Antetokounmpo’s performance unseats Michael Redd, who had the previous franchise-high with 57 points in a game in 2006.
And funny enough, Antetokounmpo has now scored more points in one game than anyone else in the league this season, as he eclipsed the previous mark of 54 points which he set on Nov. 9 against — in what is becoming something of a theme — the Pacers.