Pacers celebrate first playoff series victory in a decade, defeating Bucks 120-98 in Game 6

INDIANAPOLIS – TJ McConnell and Obi Toppin complemented each other’s plays perfectly on Thursday night.

They were still trading punches long after the Indiana Pacers celebrated a rare series-clinching victory.

Toppin scored 21 points, McConnell added 20 points and nine assists and led the Pacers to a 120-98 rout of the Milwaukee Bucks in Game 6. They will face New York – a 118-115 win over Philadelphia on Thursday – in their first Eastern Conference Semifinal in a decade.

“It means a lot,” McConnell said. “Not making the playoffs since the bubble, not being able to advance since 2014, we are very proud to be able to advance and extend our season. Milwaukee has a great team and to be honest with you, I think our bench took a few steps back competitively and I think tonight we all went out there with the mindset that we’re going to take this to another level.”

Did they ever do that.

Nobody was better than McConnell. He finished with a career-best scoring total in the playoffs, while also matching his playoff career high in assists and grabbing four steals — all after a dismal Game 5 in Milwaukee.

But McConnell wasn’t going to let one bad game get in the way of this milestone moment for Indiana. The 4-2 series victory came exactly 30 years after Indiana won its first NBA playoff series, a 3-0 victory over Orlando.

“TJ really helped me today, told me to be aggressive, told me to be myself,” said Toppin, who also produced a career-high scoring total in the playoffs. “Everyone did their job today, from the starters to the bench, everyone played a good game.”

The short-handed Bucks also played again without two-time league MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, who never returned to action after straining his left calf on April 9.

Damian Lillard, meanwhile, returned from a strained right Achilles tendon and played well – but he wasn’t as dominant as in the first two games, when he scored 69 points. Lillard finished with 28 points on 7-of-16 shooting.

“I don’t think I would have slept well and I don’t think I would have gone into the summer well if I didn’t at least try,” Lillard said. “I arrived for my pregame practice and I saw all the gold jerseys on the seats and I started moving and said, ‘Let’s do this.’”

Bobby Portis Jr. added 20 points and 15 rebounds for Milwaukee, while Brook Lopez had 20 points and Khris Middleton had 14 points and eight rebounds.

Two-time All-Star Tyrese Haliburton finished with 17 points, 10 assists and six rebounds for the Pacers, while Pascal Siakam added 19 points and seven rebounds.

Indiana went 8-3 against Milwaukee, which made its second straight first-round exit. It was the first under coach Doc Rivers – the third Bucks coach in 12 months.

“They created an incredible team, not just a young one, I think trading Siakam will really change their fortunes in the future,” Rivers said. “They’re just a tough team. Obviously, we had guys out and everything, and that’s tough, right? But let’s give them credit. I thought they played really well.”

The 2021 NBA champions certainly weren’t going to let Indiana close it out easily, and they didn’t.

Yes, Indiana turned the game around with a 23-3 first quarter spurt that gave them a 29-19 lead that they never gave up. But the Bucks kept attacking and the Pacers kept responding.

When Milwaukee cut the deficit to 38-34 early in the second quarter, Indiana scored seven straight points. When the Bucks opened the second half on a 9-4 run to close within 63-56, Indiana responded with a 10-5 run to extend the margin to 12.

And when Milwaukee got within 85-78 with 6:05 left in the third, McConnell capped an 11-0 run with back-to-back 3-pointers to make it 96-78 early in the fourth.

“In the games we won, we set the pace,” Haliburton said. “So we knew we were going to have to take over and be aggressive.”

The Bucks never recovered from Indiana’s last big surge, which extended the margin to 104-84 with 8:07 to play while creating a party atmosphere inside Gainbridge Fieldhouse as the crowd gave the Pacers a standing ovation.

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