The Milwaukee Bucks weren’t ready for their season to end.

The drastically short-handed team, playing once again without stars Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard, got contributions from up and down the roster in a dominating 115-92 victory over the Indiana Pacers in Game 5 on Tuesday at Fiserv Forum that cut the Pacers’ series lead to 3-2.

Game 6 is on Thursday night at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

“I believed in them anyway,” Bucks coach Doc Rivers said. “I said that after the game last game.

“This team, they’re giving it to me. They’re doing everything. They really are. They’re playing together. They know we’re down men. They know we have to do it together. No one is trying to be the hero.”

Khris Middleton starts hot in first quarter

If there has been a hero for the Bucks this series it has been Khris Middleton. He has been carrying the Bucks’ offense with the absences of Lillard and Antetokounmpo, even with Middleton suffering injuries to both ankles in recent games. He came into Game 5 averaging 26.3 points for the series.

He started strong by scoring 10 of the Bucks’ first 14 points.

The Pacers were also hot in the first quarter after knocking down 21 three-pointers in Game 4. They made seven from long distance to take a 31-23 advantage after the first 12 minutes.

Middleton battled some foul trouble in the second half but finished with 29 points and 12 rebounds.

“He’s been battling stuff all year,” Bucks guard Malik Beasley said. “The fact that he came back last game even though he got hurt, came back in the game. Played his ass off.

“To do what he did tonight, he’s our leader right now. Especially with those two guys out, he’s helping us a lot.”

Pat Beverley stands out as instigator

Bucks head coach Doc Rivers likes to call veteran guard Pat Beverley an “instigator.”

Beverley was that in every sense of the word in the second quarter.

He scored 12 points in the quarter as Milwaukee took a 53-48 lead into the break.

Beverley also handed out 10 assists.

“His scoring was good, but I thought his playmaking was unbelieveable tonight,” Rivers said.

Beverley also drew a technical foul on the Pacers’ Obi Toppin by trying to grab the ball out of Toppin’s hands. Toppin took exception and shoved Beverley into the Bucks’ bench. Toppin was given the technical after a video review by the referees.

Bobby Portis helps Bucks take control in third quarter

The Bucks took control of the game in the third quarter, starting with a 9-0 run.

The Pacers started cutting into the lead, getting within 66-57 on a layup by Andrew Nembhard.

But Bobby Portis, who was ejected in the first quarter of Game 4, pushed the lead back to 72-57 when Bobby Portis knocked in a layup and then fired up the crowd after Indiana called a timeout.

“Bobby, he knows how important he is to this team,” Beasley said. “Today before the shootaround he apologized (for the ejection). We need him out there.

“He’s a beast. He makes plays. He gives us energy. We need everybody.”

The Fiserv Forum crowd really ignited when Beasley knocked down back-to-back three-pointers for a 82-63 lead.

Malik Beasley among the standout contributors

Pat Connaughton blocked a three-point attempt by the Pacers’ Aaron Nesmith at the third-quarte buzzer.

That was among the standout moments by players who made the most of their opportunities for the Bucks.

Danilo Gallinari played 20 minutes and pulled down six rebounds. The 35-year-old did not play in the first three games of the series.

“It’s honestly not easy, I’ve never been in this situation before,” Gallinari said. “I’ve always been a guy that played 30-plus minutes and even when I started coming off the bench in Atlanta, I played a lot of minutes.

“It’s pretty new for me. This is something you learn how to do it. It’s all mental. The body, you work every day to get the body ready but the mental part, it’s such a mental game.”

Beasley also had a strong game, scoring all 18 of his points in the second half.

“He needs to see the ball go in,” Rivers said. “I need to see the ball go in, too, for him.”

He played big minutes in the third quarter when Middleton picked up his fourth foul, with Beasley guarding the Pacers’ Pascal Siakam.

“Today, we made sure we were scrambling and helping each other,” Beasley said. “I ended up being on him a few times, but my teammates had my back.

And the Bucks stayed alive to see another game.

“I just saw something that we’re the first team to win (in the playoffs) without our top two scorers (from the regular season),” Beasley said. “That just shows how deep we are as a team.

“No matter how many guys we got out. No matter foul trouble or not. Hurt or not. We got to be prepared. It’s the playoffs, we got to do whatever we can to win.”

Five numbers

79 — Career playoff starts for Khris Middleton, tying him with Giannis Antetokounmpo for first on the Bucks all-time playoffs games started list.

4 — Games with at least 20 points for Middleton in the series.

6 — Technical fouls called on the Pacers in the series.

2 for 10 — A.J. Green’s three-point shooting in the series.

8 — Made three-pointers for Malik Beasley over the last two games

INDIANAPOLIS — Caitlin Clark is already aware of her place in sports and the WNBA. The Indiana Fever guard hasn’t even played a professional game yet and is already among the World’s most popular athletes. She recently signed a reported eight-year, $28 million endorsement deal with Nike — her brand is growing rapidly after dominating the sports news cycle for nearly two months.

The Fever are seeing massive ticket demand as a result of Clark’s arrival. There were more than 6,000 fans at the team’s draft party earlier this month who just wanted to watch the franchise select Clark, and the media presence after team practices this week is over 10 times greater than what it has been in past seasons. The buzz around Clark and the team is massive.

“I think that just shows the excitement regarding our team,” Clark said this week of the number of people at the draft party and the team’s growing popularity. She expects a big attendance number for Indiana’s preseason opener on Friday in Dallas.

The Fever are looking forward to having large crowds at their games. Veteran guard Erica Wheeler thinks that Fever outings will have some of the biggest attendance numbers she’s seen since Wheeler battled UConn in college while at Rutgers University. NaLyssa Smith remembers playing in front of smaller crowds at Indiana Farmers Coliseum during her rookie season with the Fever. Now, that will look a lot different.

It won’t just be the home crowds that are massive. The demand for tickets to see Clark and the Fever play in non-Indiana markets is high. The Las Vegas Aces are playing a home game against the Fever in T-Mobile Arena instead of Michelob Ultra Arena to accommodate about 6,000 more fans. The Washington Mystics will host Indiana for one game this season in Capital One Arena instead of Entertainment & Sports Arena. That change will up the total capacity by about 16,000 fans.

Fans in Chicago are petitioning for something similar to happen. Clark and the Fever will be popular wherever they go, and that could change the landscape of the WNBA.

“The day she declared, we immediately started selling tickets,” Fever general manager Lin Dunn said after the 2024 WNBA Draft. “From the business side, she’s already had a great impact on the excitement in this city… She’s just created this unbelievable attention. But she’s earned it. Look what she’s done.”

Clark averaged 31.6 points and 8.9 assists per game in her final collegiate season. She became the NCAA Division I men’s and women’s all-time leading scorer that season, which boosted her status significantly.

Clark explained that she’s still in a hotel in Indianapolis as she acclimates to her move to a new city. She likes Indianapolis — the city’s size and speed are fitting for Clark and how she likes to live.

“Just have a quiet presence about me. I mean, I don’t really go out in public and do much,” she shared after her first official practice with the Fever. Clark said her free time consists of recovery and watching movies — she brought her PlayStation 5 to Indy but hasn’t hooked it up yet.

Her life has changed significantly due to her skill and popularity. She was a star in college basketball for years, but after Clark’s Iowa Hawkeyes had a dramatic run to the NCAA Title game during her junior season, things changed.

“Probably after my junior year of basketball in college. But it’s kind of grown on a level that’s a lot different than what it was then,” Clark said when asked about the moment her life became different and abnormal. “I probably still don’t really go about my life in the way that I probably should. I still try to do normal things and live as a normal person,” she added before joking that she has a security team that follows her around now.

That level of popularity comes with a ton of off-court experiences. Clark has appeared on Saturday Night Live, signed with Nike and will get a signature shoe, and will be an executive producer for a show, among many other things. She’s in countless commercials and has become one of the planet’s most recognizable athletes.

That will change everything for the Fever and the WNBA. Indiana hasn’t made the playoffs since 2016 and has ranked bottom-two in attendance in each of the last two seasons. That will certainly change this year.

“I think there’s gonna be a lot of new fans coming into the WNBA. There’s already a lot of fans here,” Clark said. “Just continuing to grow that and attract that and keep those fans will be super important.”

The star guard is aware of her status and what it means for her and the Fever. But she has carried herself well in recent weeks and will hope to translate that to the court when Indiana’s season begins next month.

Indiana officially announced the addition of Luke Goode for the 2024-25 season earlier today.

Goode committed to the Hoosiers on April 26.

Here’s the full release from IU media relations:

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – IU head coach Mike Woodson announced the addition of transfer Luke Goode (GOOD-ee) to the Indiana men’s basketball program on Tuesday. Goode, a two-time Big Ten Champion, joins Indiana after three seasons at Illinois.

The 6-7 wing averaged 4.1 points, 2.6 rebounds, and 1.1 made 3-pointers per game on 38.8% shooting from behind the arc in three seasons playing for head coach Brad Underwood. He posted 25 career games with at least two made triples.

Goode, a two-time Academic All-Big Ten performer, was one of six players to appear in all 38 games during the Illini’s run to the 2024 Elite 8. He averaged 5.7 points and 3.6 rebounds in 20.2 minutes per game. He shot 38.9% (61-of-157) from behind the 3-point line and made 1.6 triples per game. Goode appeared in 76 career games for Illinois and made seven starts.

Goode, a graduate of Homestead High School in Fort Wayne, left the Spartan program as the winningest player in team history (79), ranked second in career points (1,480), first in made 3-pointers (232), fourth in rebounds (499), and fourth in assists (293).

He is the son of Craig and Susan Goode and has a younger brother, Jake, and younger sister, Ella. His grandfather, Irv Goode, was an NFL offensive lineman for 13 seasons and member of the Miami Dolphins Super Bowl VIII championship team in 1973. His father played football at Indiana (1994-96); his uncle, Trent Green, played football at Indiana (1990-92) and played quarterback in the NFL for 12 years; and his cousin, Ben Skowronek, won Super Bowl LVI with the Los Angeles Rams. Goode trained with former Indiana men’s basketball player Matt Roth during his prep years.

WOODSON ON GOODE

“Luke is a knockdown 3-point shooter that provides length and rebounding ability from the wing position. He comes from a very athletic background with deep family ties to this University. He has competed at the highest level of the Big Ten and is a player we will count on to help us stretch the floor. We are excited to bring his family back to Hoosier Nation.”

Filed to: Luke Goode, Transfer portal