Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 29 points and Khris Middleton added 27 to help the Milwaukee Bucks bounce back from their first consecutive losses of the season with a 117-98 victory over the Indiana Pacers on Thursday night.
Milwaukee, which improved to an NBA-best 49-16, was coming off back-to-back losses to Utah and Phoenix after opening a five-game road trip with three victories.
The Bucks ran off 13 consecutive points after Antetokounmpo was assessed a technical midway through the third quarter, one possession after he was knocked down attempting a shot, with no foul called. The Pacers missed the technical free throw and the Bucks responded with a 13-0 run.
Antetokounmpo started the spurt with a dunk and finished it with another to put Milwaukee up 80-64 with 2:56 left in the period.
The Bucks padded their lead with a 12-0 spurt early in the fourth quarter. Kyle O'Quinn opened the final period with a floater from the lane to bring the Pacers within 10 at 84-74. Ersan Ilyasova hit a 3-pointer to trigger the run, capped by Antetokounmpo's drive to make it 96-74 with 8:21 left.
Myles Turner had 22 points and Bojan Bogdanovic 17 for the Pacers.
Bogdanovic hit a pair of 3-pointers to pull Indiana within three points at 67-64 before the technical on Antetokounmpo. Indiana's Thaddeus Young thought that was the turning point.
The Bucks opened their largest lead of the first half at 47-33 on two free throws by Antetokounmpo, but the Pacers went on a 17-7 run to close within 54-50 at the break.
Indiana is at Philadelphia on Sunday.