February 13th, 2011 
Stephen Rhodes 
Posted in 
Both the Indiana Pacers and Milwaukee Bucks have one thing in common: They’re fighting for their playoff lives.
Prior to their game against each other at the Bradley Center Saturday night, the Pacers were hanging onto the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference playoff chase while the Bucks were 3 1/2 games behind.
So as you have probably figured out, both teams had a sense of urgency attached to their matchup.
As it would turn out, the Pacers made hay with a Danny Granger-led 14-0 run late in the fourth quarter, allowing Indiana to pull away and take the 103-97 win over Milwaukee; the victory was the Pacers’ third straight while the Bucks are now five games behind the Pacers.
The first quarter was high scoring (for Milwaukee, that is) as Indiana outscored them 32-29; however, things slowed down markedly as both teams in the second combined to score just 39 points, with the Pacers taking a slim two-point lead into their locker room at the intermission.
Luc Richard Mbah a Moute gave the Bucks its only lead of the second half with a pair of free throws that made it 78-77 with 9:08 left to go; they wouldn’t score again until 3:11 remained on the clock on Carlos Delfino’s two free throws.
By then, Indiana had iced the game.
Granger led the Pacers with a game-high 30 points (including four 3-pointers), along with 4 rebounds, 2 assists, a steal and a block while Darren Collison added 22 with 3 rebounds, 3 assists and a block. Roy Hibbert chipped in 13 with 8 rebounds, 6 assists and a block.
The Bucks were led by Delfino from off the bench with 21 points, along with 2 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals while Keyon Dooling added 13 with 2 rebounds and 2 steals. Earl Boykins chipped in 11 with 3 rebounds, 4 assists and a steal.
Indiana (24-28) returns home to Conseco Fieldhouse to host the Miami Heat on Tuesday night while Milwaukee (20-33) remains at home to host the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday.
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