Giannis Antetokounmpo’s 54 points not enough as Milwaukee Bucks fall to Indiana Pacers in the NBA

LOS ANGELES – It all came down to who “wanted it more” on Thursday night as the Indiana Pacers withstood a 54-point outburst from Milwaukee star Giannis Antetokounmpo to hand the Bucks a 126-124 National Basketball Association (NBA) defeat.

Tyrese Haliburton led the Pacers with 29 points, including a go-ahead three-pointer with 1min 29sec to play. That gave Indiana a 122-121 lead.

They did not trail again in a game they had led by as many as 18 in the first half before Antetokounmpo brought the Bucks roaring back.

Haliburton added 10 assists and Canadian forward Bennedict Mathurin scored 26 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for the Pacers, who had fallen behind by 10 early in the fourth quarter.

Haliburton said the late rally was a matter of “just figuring it out”.

“We dug down and figured it out defensively,” he said. “And then offensively that allowed us to play a little more uptempo, play a little more our game offensively. We just got timely buckets.”

The big problem to be solved, he acknowledged, was Antetokounmpo, nicknamed the Greek Freak.

“Giannis is obviously a lot for us defensively, a lot for anybody defensively,” Haliburton added.

Indiana coach Rick Carlisle, meanwhile, said his team had to deal with a player who was “extraordinarily hot and on a roll”.

“We executed as well as we could and created some chaos defensively,” he added. “You’ve got to take some risks or else he’s going to end up with 60. Very fortunate to get the win.”

Antetokounmpo’s 54 points were one shy of his career high and the most in a game in the young season.

He had two turnovers with less than two minutes remaining, missing his target on a pass before he was stripped of the ball by Mathurin.

But, with All-Star Damian Lillard sidelined with a sore calf, it was still a ferocious performance from the two-time NBA Most Valuable Player, who made 19 of 25 shots from the field and 16 of 18 free-throw attempts.

He also grabbed 12 rebounds and handed out three assists.

“I know he can do this, but when you see it up close it’s awesome,” said Milwaukee’s first-year coach Adrian Griffin – who was ejected in the third quarter for arguing a non-call on what he thought was a foul on Antetokounmpo.

“I thought Giannis was getting hit quite a bit and I voiced my opinion. Next time I will do it in a more delicate way.”

Khris Middleton scored 19 points for Milwaukee, missing a game-tying three-pointer with 6.9 seconds remaining before making a three to cap the scoring at the buzzer.

“It just came down to whichever team wanted it a little more than the other,” Carlisle added. “And our guys really wanted it.”

Separately, a museum dedicated solely to the life and illustrious career of NBA great LeBron James is opening later in November in his hometown of Akron, Ohio, his foundation said on Thursday.

James’ Home Court will be a self-guided tour offering a look at his life and including never-before-seen items along his journey from Akron to the NBA, Olympics, business, philanthropy and beyond.

The museum begins with a recreation of the apartment where James grew up and will take visitors through the 2003 NBA Draft, his championship runs with the Cleveland Cavaliers, Miami Heat and Los Angeles Lakers and Olympic gold-medal winning years.

“My dream was always to put Akron on the map, so to have a place in my hometown that allows me to share my journey with my fans from all over the world means a lot to me,” James said.

“I’ve been known to hang on to a lot of things over the years, and I always knew there would be a time and place to bring them out.”

The museum will open on Nov 25. All proceeds from ticket sales will go back to the community.

The 38-year-old James, who became the league’s all-time scoring leader in February, is playing in his 21st NBA season. AFP, REUTERS