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 GAME FLOW
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- The Milwaukee Bucks' playoff push moved into high gear Thursday night with a victory over the Indiana Pacers, the best team in the Eastern Conference with the best home record.
Sam Cassell scored 30 points and Ray Allen added 26 as the Bucks surprised the Pacers 105-84, handing Indiana just its fourth loss in 35 games at Conseco Field House.
|  | | Milwaukee's Ray Allen drives for two of his 26 points as the Pacers' Mark Jackson defends. |
"This team really wants to make the playoffs," Bucks coach George Karl said, "and they are going to fight like heck to do it. This game was definitely more important for us than it was for Indiana."
The Bucks improved to 32-36, a half-game behind Orlando for the
eighth and final playoff spot. The Pacers dropped to 47-22 but own
a four-game lead over Miami for the best record in the Eastern
Conference.
"It was a bad effort on our part," Pacers coach Larry Bird
said. "We were doing a lot of strange things on defense, and we
didn't rebound the ball. We just didn't play."
The Bucks had plenty of incentive to play well. Fighting for a
playoff spot also brought back memories of last year's postseason,
when they were swept by the Pacers.
"Last year, they beat us in the playoffs, just on experience,"
Cassell said. "This year, we're just trying to play better,
compete against them, beat them every time we play them."
Cassell, who hit 11 of 16 field goals and all eight free throws,
scored 13 points in the first half to help the Bucks build a 62-40
lead at the break.
Tim Thomas added 21 points for Milwaukee, which split its
four-game series with Indiana this year.
Jalen Rose led the Pacers with 22 points, and Reggie Miller had
16.
Rose, who had been averaging nearly 30 points in the Pacers'
previous four games, said he was aware of the Bucks' motivation.
"They know we're the team that swept them out of the
playoffs," he said. "They took it personal, and they beat us."
Milwaukee hit 51 percent of its field goals, while Indiana hit
just 37.5 percent. The Bucks had a 47-36 rebounding edge.
Although the Pacers shot 71 percent in the third quarter -- 10 of
16 from the field -- they still trailed the Bucks 85-68 entering the
fourth quarter.
"We got a lead, and we just kept going," Cassell said. "We
kept the pressure on them."
Game notes
Milwaukee won for just the sixth time in its last 21 games.
... Indiana center Rik Smits, who hit 50 percent from the field and averaged 18 points during the Pacers' four-game winning streak, was just 1-of-5 Thursday, scoring two points. ... Allen, the only Bucks player to start all 68 games this season, has scored double figures in 71 straight games. ... As a starter in the Pacers' last six games, forward Austin Croshere has led his team in rebounding, averaging 11.2 per game. ... Tim Thomas is averaging 18 points in his last 11 games.
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ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard
Milwaukee Clubhouse
Indiana Clubhouse
RECAPS
Milwaukee 105
Indiana 84
Cleveland 104
Dallas 98
Houston 110
LA Clippers 95
Washington 100
Denver 86
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