Bobby sucks, red hot from 3: 4 observations from Pacers' Game 4 win vs. Bucks

INDIANAPOLIS -- It was not easy. But behind 29 points and nine rebounds from Myles Turner and 24 points from Tyrese Haliburton, the Pacers knocked off the Milwaukee Bucks 126-113 in Game 4 of the first round Eastern Conference series on Sunday night and will take a 3-1 series into Tuesday’s Game 5 on Tuesday in Milwaukee.

Here are four observations:

‘Fan favorite’ Bobby Portis ejected

It did not take long for the fireworks.

In the first four minutes there were technical fouls called for taunting when the Pacers’ Pascal Siakam dunked and stared down Bobby Portis. A few possessions later, Bucks’ guard Patrick Beverley scored and hit the “too small” sign on Andrew Nembhard. The crowd roared to protest the lack of a technical on Beverley before it was assessed about a second later.

That was just a warmup for what happened next.

Portis, who was serenaded with “Bobby sucks” chants during Game 3 on Friday night from the Pacers’ fans, tangled with Nembhard under the Bucks’ basket after Khris Middleton was fouled by Aaron Nesmith with 5:01 left in the first quarter. It was seemingly a nothing play until Nembhard took exception to Portis’ shove and pushed him. The two then squared off and Portis gave Nembhard a hard two-hand shove in the chest, then followed with a right hand to the side of Nembhard’s head.

The players were quickly separated but the damage was done for Portis, who was ejected for two hostile acts. Nembhard received one technical but stayed in the game.

Pacers news: Bobby Portis ejected as Pacers, Bucks pile up technical fouls in first quarter of Game 4

Portis left the court to more “Bobby sucks” chants. He earned the ire of Pacers’ fans after his Game 2 comments calling the Pacers “frontrunners.”

“When the (expletive is) going good, they laughing, clapping all that,” Portis said, according to The Athletic. “When it’s going bad, they not saying nothing, so I think that to answer the question, guys always feel good when they’re having a good game or hitting shots, everybody. I think that’s just human nature and basketball. When you making shots, you feeling good. But when the tough going, you can’t get nothing, it kind of go to the other way.”

Portis finished his night with four points and three rebounds in seven minutes. He was averaging 15.3 points and 13.3 rebounds in the first three games of the series.

The Bucks are walking wounded

For a brief moment early in the third quarter, it looked like the Bucks might have to go the rest of the second half without Khris Middleton, who hobbled off the floor and to the locker room after coming down awkwardly after missing a shot.

Middleton quickly returned to the court. But it was a scary moment for a team already without Damian Lillard (Achilles) and Giannis Antetokounmpo (strained calf) going into the game, and Portis (ejection) seven minutes into Sunday’s game. Middleton, who scored 42 points in Friday’s game and provided heroics with two clutch 3-pointers at the end of regulation and overtime, finished with 25 points and 10 rebounds in Game 4.

Bucks’ coach Doc Rivers said before Sunday’s game that he was hopeful both Lillard and Antetokounmpo could return in the series, though Bucks’ backs are now to the wall going into Game 5.

“We’re not shutting him down,” Rivers said of Lillard. “That’s a fact. I can say that much for sure.”

Antetokounmpo has been out of the lineup since April 9 with a strained calf. He worked out on Sunday. “He moved, he shot,” Rivers said. “He’s running now with no resistance. Those are all very good signs. … I think there’s a chance for him to play in the series. I really do.”

Pacers scorching hot from 3

The Pacers were reliant on the 3-pointer in Friday night’s 121-118 overtime win over the Bucks, but shot just 13-for-49.

It was a much better showing in Game 4 from the arc. The Pacers were 15-for-25 from 3 after Tyrese Haliburton made back-to-back 3s to put Indiana ahead by 10 points early in the third quarter. The Pacers finished 22-for-43 from the 3-point line, setting a franchise playoff record for makes.

It was the best 3-point shooting game of the series for the Pacers, who were a dreadful 8-for-38 in the Game 1 loss in Milwaukee, then improved to 16-for-36 in the Game 2 victory.

The Pacers’ season high was 23 3-pointers (on 43 attempts) in a win over the New York Knicks on Dec. 30.

Carlisle was not wrong

Pacers’ coach Rick Carlisle might have been giving a little bit of coach speak prior to Game 4 when he said it was going to be “the hardest game of the series, to this point.”

The Bucks certainly did not wilt, even as shorthanded as they were. The Pacers built a 17-point lead late in the third quarter, only to see the Bucks cut it back to 98-92 early in the fourth quarter.

“If Lillard and Giannis don’t play another second, they have plenty of firepower over there to beat us in the remainder of this series if we don’t have our perspective accurate,” Carlisle said before the game. “We have to compete at a very high and very mature level for this game. This will be the hardest game of the series, to this point. I have no doubt about that. They have a bunch of guys over there dying to prove that they are up for this moment and maybe they should have played more or had more opportunities.”

But the Pacers had too much. Too much Haliburton. Too much Nembhard. And certainly too much Myles Turner, who sent the crowd into a frenzy with back-to-back 3-pointers to push the Pacers’ lead to 14 points with 7:24 left – the unofficial end of the Bucks’ chances.

Turner finished with 29 points, nine rebounds and four assists.

Call Star reporter Kyle Neddenriep at (317) 444-6649.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Pacers scorching hot from 3 in Game 4 win vs. Bucks to take 3-1 lead