INDIANAPOLIS — Obi Toppin scored 21 points, DJ McConnell had 20 points and nine assists and the Indiana Pacers won their first playoff series in a decade, beating the Milwaukee Bucks 120-98 in Game 6 on Thursday night.
The Pacers will face the winner of the Philadelphia-New York series in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. New York took a 3-2 lead into Thursday’s Game 6.
According to ESPN Stats and Information Research, Tappin and McConnell are the first duo in Pacers playoff history to score 20 or more points in a single game.
Indiana’s milestone win came exactly 30 years after a 3-0 win over Orlando and advancing to the NBA playoffs for the first time in franchise history. The two-time league MVP never played after straining his left calf on April 9.
Damian Lillard, meanwhile, returned from a right Achilles injury and played well — but wasn’t nearly as dominant as he was in the first two games, when he scored 69 points. Lillard finished with 28 points on 7-of-16 shooting.
Bobby Portis Jr. added 20 points and 15 rebounds for Milwaukee. Brook Lopez had 20 points and Khris Middleton had 14 points and eight rebounds.
Two-time All-Star Tyreese Halliburton had 17 points, 10 assists and six rebounds for Indiana, and Pascal Siakam finished with 19 points and seven rebounds. Dauphin and McConnell both had playoff career-high scoring totals, and McConnell also had four steals.
Indiana went 8-3 against the Bucs this season in Milwaukee’s second straight first-round exit.
Easy? no chance. Indiana went on a 23-3 first quarter to make it 29-19 and the Pacers never trailed again.
But the Pacers had an answer every time the Bucks charged back.
When Milwaukee cut it to 38-34 early in the second quarter, Indiana scored seven straight points. Indiana responded with a 10-5 run to extend the lead to 12 as the Bucs went on a 9-4 run in the second half to close to 63-56. With Milwaukee trailing 85-78 with 6:05 left in the third, McConnell followed an 11-0 run with 3-pointers to make it 96-78 early in the fourth.
The Bucks never recovered as the Pacers extended the lead to 104-84 with 8:07 left. From then on, it was a festive atmosphere at Cainbridge Fieldhouse, with Pacers players standing outside the court and cheering.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
