MILWAUKEE – Paul George scored 32 points and David West tied a season high with 30, helping the Indiana Pacers hang on to beat the Milwaukee Bucks 110-100 on Saturday night.
Lance Stephenson added 24 points, nine rebounds and eight assists for the Pacers, who had lost three of their previous five games. Stephenson scored seven straight points to open the fourth quarter.
Brandon Knight scored 30 points for Milwaukee, including 20 in the first half. Khris Middleton added 13.
With the Pacers leading by seven at the end of the third quarter, Stephenson opened the fourth with a pair of inside scores and a 3-pointer, extending the lead to 82-68. Milwaukee kept the game close into the final minutes, but West hit a jumper with 48 seconds left to help put away the game.
Indiana led by as many as 22 points in the first half, and by 12 at halftime, largely because of their defense. Knight shot 8 for 14 from the field in the first half for Milwaukee, and the rest of the Bucks shot a combined 7 for 27. But a quick 11-2 run by Milwaukee to begin the third quarter cut the lead to three.
The Pacers were without deadline-day acquisition Evan Turner, who was back in Indianapolis getting a physical exam on Saturday. Turner is expected to join the team on Sunday, and could make his first appearance in Tuesday night's game against the Lakers.
Pacers coach Frank Vogel acknowledged that it was difficult for the team to part ways with popular veteran Danny Granger, who was sent to Philadelphia in the deal for Turner. Vogel addressed it with the team on Friday.
"We had a good, I think, team strengthening meeting yesterday before practice," Vogel said.
The Bucks managed to work in guard Ramon Sessions and forward Jeff Adrien, two players they acquired from Charlotte before Thursday afternoon's trade deadline. Adrien contributed right away, scoring twice and throwing an alley-oop to Giannis Antetokounmpo for a dunk in his first four minutes on the floor. He finished the night with 11 rebounds in 18 minutes.
Bucks coach Larry Drew said both Sessions and Adrien were in early on Saturday as coaches worked to get them familiar with a portion of the playbook.
NOTES: Milwaukee's Caron Butler sat out with left ankle soreness. . Pacers coach Frank Vogel said the team's trainer has "just killed" center Andrew Bynum with conditioning work, and Bynum has responded well. Bynum hasn't played since falling out of favor in Cleveland, getting traded to Chicago and being released. . The Bucks had a "Y2K night" promotion, including a halftime concert by rap artist Coolio and a guest appearance by iconic player Glenn "Big Dog" Robinson.
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