Indiana
Bucks vs. Pacers: Giannis immolates Indiana (again)
It took all four quarters of play, but the Milwaukee Bucks eventually found their groove on the road against the Indiana Pacers for a 120-112 victory in Giannis Antetokounmpo’s return from illness. Giannis would lead all scorers with 30 points (26 in the second half) and added 12 rebounds and five assists for good measure. Brook Lopez, Khris Middleton, Bobby Portis, and Gary Trent Jr. would contribute 16, 15, 14, and 14 points, respectively in what wound up being a relatively complete team performance. Even Damian Lillard’s nine points arrived at a crucial time to help break Milwaukee’s three-point deadlock. The Bucks would be good for a 19 point comeback and they now lead the season series between these teams at 2-0.
Read our full summary of the game here and catch a six-minute audio recap on the Bucks+ podcast Bucks In Six Minutes below.
What Did We Learn?
There is plausibly just enough depth of scoring and defensive versatility on this roster to grind out victories even when Milwaukee’s big three are off their games for stretches at a go. Giannis, Dame, and Khris combined for a whopping 14 points and seven turnovers in the first half, yet the Bucks held a slight lead after one frame thanks in part to timely interior scoring from the likes of Lopez and a quick trigger jumper from GTJ. Once Giannis found his rhythm in the second half the team was able to ride his dominance (26 points on 10-16 from the floor, 6-11 from the line, and eight rebounds) and continuing contributions from the rotation to a massive turnaround.
The most interesting defensive fold was the amount of zone run by head coach Doc Rivers in the second half. Rather than continue trying to stick with Indiana’s quicker players in the team’s base zone-drop scheme—which struggled mightily in the second quarter and start of the third—the Bucks went into a zone with Bobby and Giannis anchoring the interior. Indiana struggled to find the room to generate open looks and their quick offense began to sputter, often settling for tough contested midrange attempts with two Bucks draped all over the driver. Good opposing offenses can normally unlock a zone in somewhat short order, but Milwaukee’s personnel did well to avoid any serious breakdowns.
Three Giannis Midrange Jumpers
If you are the type to go back and watch the game in its entirety again, it’d be hard to miss just how much Giannis was laboring in the first half. There were a few moments when he got a chance to stand still (with or without the ball) and was heaving for breath—obviously the lingering aftereffects of whatever respiratory bug he and Lillard had battled this past week. The result? A lot of blown shots close to the basket, turnovers, and substandard effort.
Should that trend have held in the second half it’d have been equal parts understandable and a leading reason why a loss felt in the offing. Instead, Giannis ginned up just enough execution to claw his way back into things before firing on all cylinders to close the game. A notable component that got him on track was his jumper. It is a tool that has come and gone over the past few seasons on an almost game-to-game basis, but last night it was effective enough to lift his scoring and pay off isolation looks. Here are three of those makes, two of which came with a hefty deficit to keep Milwaukee moving and the last being a very tough baseline fader which drew the Bucks within two:
Ah hell, let’s just break convention and look at his other two jumpers with the game on the line because they’re that fun to watch:
There is a reason why we salivate over the possibility of Giannis ever happening upon a jumpshot that has any level of replicability: it’d instantly transform the depth of his offensive game from dominance to possible transcendence. About 22% of his two point looks have been pull-ups this season which is his highest mark since 2021-2022 and he’s making them at a 43.6% rate. Definitely something to keep an eye on heading forward.
Bonus Bucks Bits
- How about Gary Trent Jr.? His scoring punch at the end of the first quarter (a personal 8-0 run helped push Milwaukee to a small lead) and a pair of threes in the fourth were beautifully timed when the team needed it most. The past week has seen him cement a spot in Doc’s closing lineup and gets the mind wondering whether another stint as a starter could be in the offing.
- Brook Lopez went 7-8 from inside the arc, a leading reason why the Bucks maintained touching distance with Indiana with a quiet first half from the stars.
- Damian Lillard had a quiet night in part because the Pacers were relentless in trying to pick him up over 3/4ths of the court and constant trapping. Andrew Nembhard did a very solid job robbing Lillard of any space on-ball and Dame’s teammates weren’t super quick to react and move to give Dame a bailout passing lane or screen to free him up. A 3-14 mark from the floor isn’t ideal, but he did hit those three second-half threes. That’ll do.
- Shoutout to Ryan Rollins for his 90 second cameo to start the fourth quarter. It is obvious that he’s going to drop like a rock out of the rotation if everyone is healthy, but there are worse jobs in the world than “guy who gives Lillard a small breather” in the NBA.
- The in-arena mics are getting better at picking up Bobby Portis dropping “ball don’t lie” on opponents after missed free throws. We’ve heard him hit that line with an expletive thrown in for good measure two games in a row. If he’s right, he’s right.
- Andre Jackson Jr. registered a mere 12 minutes of play. Now that the rotation is coming back into place I’ve a feeling he’ll be given far less margin for error by the coaching staff heading forward. Either he responds and finds a new level or risks seeing his spot in the rotation at risk.
Up Next
It is back to home sweet home for the Bucks when they play host to the Brooklyn Nets on Thursday, January 2nd. With Brooklyn wandering ever more into full-on fire sale mode, can Milwaukee find the gumption to even the season series up at 2-2? You can find out at 7:00 PM (CST) on FanDuel Sports Network Wisconsin, and our Playback channel!
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INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Electric services company AES Indiana on Thursday hosted community office hours at the Julia Carson Transit Center in downtown Indianapolis.
AES says its office hours events are a chance for the company to meet its customers where they are. It’s the first time the utility has tried something like this.
The utility offered assistance for a range of needs including answering billing questions, setting up payment plans, and discussing how to be more energy-efficient.
Mallory Duncan, director of communications at AES, says it’s good to see customers in person. “Sometimes it’s just better to talk face-to-face, and it’s easier than over the phone. So, we wanted to offer this opportunity to all of our customers, no matter where they’re located.”
Thursday’s event was the first of three sessions at the transit center. AES will be back with customer service agents on from 10 a.m.-noon Saturday and 5-7 p.m. Wednesday.
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – During spring practice, Indiana football coach Curt Cignetti speaks with the media once per week.
Up until Thursday, Cignetti’s assessments of practice had been largely positive, but on Thursday, Cignetti came off the field frustrated with the way the players approached the day.
He said so, unprompted, to start his Thursday morning press conference at Memorial Stadium.
“It’s a race to improve as much as you can, and up to today, I think you know, the effort and the improvement is on track,” Cignetti said.
“I think today, we squandered an opportunity to improve as much as possible, and we were inconsistent in too many areas. Probably not mentally prepared to come out and do what it takes to have a successful practice. And improve as much as possible,” Cignetti continued.
Cignetti elaborated further on what bothered him about the way the Hoosiers went about their business.
“It was too much inconsistency across the board at all positions. Whether it’s a lack of detail, focus, preparation, which leads to a breakdown in execution,” Cignett said.
What also concerned Cignetti was that the coaching he wants his staff to deliver wasn’t being heeded by the Hoosiers.
“Good players want to be coached. Great players. You can’t coach them enough. You can’t give them enough. They want more. Inconsistent players want coached on their terms. And today, we had too many inconsistent players that didn’t come out prepared, ready to improve and live up to the standard that we’ve set for each individual and the team and offense, defense, special teams,” Cignetti said.
“We just didn’t have enough juice out there. There were too many coaches yelling to get going,” Cignetti continued. “Up to today, I think the practices, they’re never perfect, but the effort and energy has been great.”
Cignetti lated noted that he did not let the players leave the field without conveying how he felt about their approach to practice on Thursday. Cignetti observes practices from his own vantage point, usually by himself, as he makes the effort to try to see as much of the practice as possible, leaving the detail work to the coordinators.
“That message got sent on the field during practice. I didn’t wait until after practice to send it. Sometimes it’s a little X-rated message,” Cignetti said.
Thursday was practice No. 10 for Indiana. The Hoosiers had their first scrimmage last Saturday and will have another this Saturday that will be closed to the public.
After that, there is one more practice before Indiana plays its spring game at 8 p.m. next Thursday at Memorial Stadium.
Cignetti isn’t focused on the spring game or the season to come in the fall. He wants to drive the point home, in no uncertain terms to his players, that spring preparation is what leads to fall success.
“I’m sure I’ll go in and look at the tape, it’s never as good, never as bad (as you think), but that’s where we are today. I’m really not worried about what it looks like four months from now. My focus is on, what were we today? What did we put on tape?” Cignetti said.
INDIANAPOLIS – Five new cases of measles have been confirmed in Allen County, bringing Indiana’s total for 2025 to six.
What we know:
The Indiana Department of Health reported five additional measles cases—three minors and two adults—in Allen County. These new cases are linked to the initial case identified earlier this week. All individuals are reportedly recovering well.
Four of the minors were unvaccinated, while the vaccination status of the two adults is unclear. State and local health officials are continuing to investigate the cases and notify anyone who may have been exposed.
There are currently no known links between these cases and measles outbreaks in other states. Officials emphasized that the risk to the general public remains low.
What we don’t know:
It’s still unclear how the initial case was exposed to the virus.
What you can do:
Two doses of the MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccine are 97% effective in preventing measles. Children typically receive the vaccine at 12-15 months and again at 4-6 years, but it can be given to babies as young as six months in certain situations.
Anyone experiencing symptoms such as high fever, cough, runny nose, red eyes, or a rash should stay home and call their healthcare provider before visiting a clinic or hospital.
Tiny white spots, known as Koplik spots, may also develop inside the mouth.
Dig deeper:
Allen County is the largest county in Indiana and encompasses Fort Wayne.
These are the first confirmed cases of measles in Indiana since early 2024, when a case was reported in Lake County.
Though measles can spread easily through airborne droplets that remain infectious for up to two hours, even a single case is treated as an outbreak.
The Source: The information in this article was provided by the Indiana Department of Public Health.
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