Bucks Put Some Heat on Pacers

Ray Allen wanted the Milwaukee Bucks to remember this feeling for three more days.

Allen scored 20 points before taking a blow to the head, and reserve Scott Williams added another 20 as the hot-shooting Bucks routed the Indiana Pacers, 100-87, Monday night to tie the series at 2-2 and force a decisive Game 5 in their best-of-five series.

Game 5 is Thursday night at Indianapolis, where the Bucks already have won twice this season.

In the jubilant Bucks locker room, Allen said Milwaukee’s biggest task is to somehow maintain the mental focus that turned Game 4 into a laugher. For a team that plays on momentum as much as the young Bucks, that’s no simple task.

“There’s no reason for us to drop back now,” Allen said. “We’ve got to keep charging. People didn’t think we’d be here, but we are. I’ll just tell everybody to remember on Thursday that this is a team we can beat.”

Milwaukee, which needed a desperate late-season charge to even make the playoffs, is hoping to become the third No. 8 seed to upset a top-seeded team. When Denver upset Seattle in 1994 and the Knicks beat the Heat last year, both eighth-seeded teams won on the road in a fifth game.

“They had us on our heels all night,” said Indiana Coach Larry Bird, who would be coaching his final game if the Bucks manage a victory in Game 5.

In grand style, Milwaukee won a home playoff game for the first time since May 1, 1990--the last year they got out of the first round.

The Bucks shot 64% in the first half and led by double digits throughout the final three quarters. Milwaukee was up by 31 points in the third quarter before coasting to victory.

“We’re in their heads, believe me,” Milwaukee’s Darvin Ham said. “They can hear us coming. They’d better turn around.”

Jalen Rose scored 17 points to lead the Pacers, who shot 40% and were outrebounded, 35-21, in the first three quarters.