Bobby Portis Jr. and Kevin Porter Jr. speak on Bucks win over Pacers
Bobby Portis Jr., Kevin Porter Jr. and head coach Doc Rivers speak on the Milwaukee Bucks’ 111-94 win over the Indiana Pacers on Dec. 23, 2025.
The Milwaukee Bucks left Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Dec. 23 in Indianapolis with a victory for the second time this season, which accounts for half of their road wins on the year, with a 111-94 win over the Indiana Pacers.
“We needed it bad, man,” Bucks guard Ryan Rollins said of the win. “We needed it super bad. So, we got it and we gotta get the rest of ‘em on the road, too.”
The Bucks (12-18) snapped an eight-game losing streak away from Fiserv Forum in sending the Pacers (6-24) to their sixth straight loss. Milwaukee is now 4-10 on the road. The Bucks beat Indiana on a buzzer-beater by Giannis Antetokounmpo on Nov. 3 in the emotional, yet contentious, return of Bucks center Myles Turner to the city he played his first 10 seasons in.
“To be honest, man, it’s been up and down all year so it feels very good, especially going into Christmas break, we got a couple days off to relax with our families, so definitely when you win it kind of makes everything feel better, right?” Bucks forward Bobby Portis Jr. said. “It feels good going into the holiday.
“But credit to all our hard work, man. We’ve been in the lab grinding, just trying to make it work, make it flow, putting in a lot new things and implementing sliding on offense, low man on defense. Guys came in and had a ton of energy tonight and it was good to get a win, especially in this hostile environment which over the years we’ve kind of struggled in. It feels great.”
The struggles of each team since then created subdued version of what had become of the NBA’s most heated rivalries the last two seasons, as stars Antetokounmpo (Milwaukee) and Tyrese Haliburton (Indiana) were out with injuries, as were Indiana instigators Aaron Nesmith and Isaiah Jackson. That left the short-handed Pacers with just all-star Pascal Siakam and guards Andrew Nembhard, Bennedict Mathurin and TJ McConnell to try and pester the Bucks.
BOX SCORE: Bucks 111, Pacers 94
And though Turner was roundly booed each time he touched the ball, the Pacers didn’t troll him on the giant videoboard like they did in the first game and crowd was a bit more muted as the Bucks had control most of the game.
It helped Milwaukee’s cause that the Pacers (109.7 points per game) came in as one of the few teams in the league with a more anemic offense than the Bucks (113.1), and the visitors were able to put the ball in the basket with a bit more regularity thanks to a 24-point effort by Kevin Porter Jr.
Four other players also reached double figures for the Bucks, including Ryan Rollins’ 23 off the bench.
Milwaukee went through another cold shooting night from behind the 3-point line (33%) after shooting 28.9% in a loss at Minnesota on Dec. 21, but scored 52 points in the paint in shooting 51% overall.
The Bucks were helped by the Pacers going 20 of 33 from the free throw line and shooting just 25% from behind the 3-point line.
The next step for the Bucks is winning in Memphis on Dec. 26. The team has not posted victories in consecutive games since Oct. 28-30.
When asked what the team can carry over to that game after two days off Porter said, “Energy, man. Everyone was involved tonight. Even last game (in Minnesota) everyone was involved and like Doc always says, we’re trending in the right direction and we just gotta keep trusting the schemes, trust ourselves and just go out there and play. I think when we don’t have expectations and our only expectation is to have fun out there, I think we’re a lot better team.”
Strong third quarter helps Bucks survive
Milwaukee flipped the script from its loss in Minnesota on Dec. 21 where it blew a 16-point lead in the third quarter by holding onto the rope and extending a lead against Indiana.
The Bucks have had their issues putting their foot down on opponents in the third quarters of games all year, and after taking a 15-point halftime lead it appeared they may struggle again.
The Pacers collected three straight offensive rebounds to open the quarter but couldn’t score, and a near turnover by Turner instead turned into a step-back 3-pointer by Kyle Kuzma, all in the opening 65 seconds of the third. That 18-point lead was whittled down to 12, however, and the game felt somewhat on edge.
But, Turner collected an offensive rebound of his own and put it back to steal a breath from the Pacers, and it started a 10-1 run that gave Milwaukee a 21-point lead.
“I think it’s just us settling down and getting into our actions, move the ball and do what we’ve been doing the majority of the game that got us that lead,” Rollins said. “I think sometimes when we get a lead, we start to slow down, kind of want to go a lot of like pick-and-roll, spread action (which) kind of like, slows the ball down, gets a little more stagnant, so in those situations we gotta get back to what we’re been doing and move the ball and just get open looks, keep driving downhill, kickouts, keep making plays.
“I think it’s a recipe of just doing what we’ve been doing earlier in the game.”
The Bucks would lead by as many as 25, which was enough to finish out the game as the Pacers cut the margin down to 99-90 with 4:34 to go before Porter and Rollins hit a couple of clutch buckets to stem the tide.
“I’m sure everyone watches the NBA, a lot of teams go up big right away and it’s a long game so it’s hard to maintain that level of play for 48 minutes,” Porter said. “So, teams sometimes come back so it’s our job to stop the bleeding when they do make that run and make another run and I think what we seen today was resilience. And we did take control.
“At the end of the day, they’re gonna make a run, basketball is a game of runs, so I’m just happy we was able to get back our momentum and control it.”
Bucks put practice into action
The Bucks are now back “in it” in terms of the regularity of the NBA schedule, as they are in the midst of a five-game road trip (with a holiday layover in Milwaukee). From Dec. 9-20, however, they held six practices – including two on travel days before playing road games they eventually lost.
They won in Indianapolis on Dec. 23, and they are now 2-3 in the games immediately following the unique stretch of off days and practice time that were meant for improvement.
“We gotta use it to our advantage,” Bucks guard Gary Harris said following the team’s practice on Dec. 20. “We’re getting healthy, guys are coming back and we can hit the ground rolling when we get back on the court.”
Before they began the road trip in Minneapolis on Dec. 21, where they blew a 16-point third quarter lead in a 103-100 loss to the Timberwolves, the players acknowledged that seeing some positive results out of such work would be important.
“One hundred percent. One hundred percent. That’s why you do it,” Bucks guard AJ Green said before the team left for Minnesota. “That’s the hope of taking advantage of this stretch of time home, these practices, to clean some things up, get some really good practices in. You have to do it in a game now. We gotta build off of that. We can’t just practice well and then not do it in games. So to build off of that, be consistent and yeah, we gotta string some together. We’re on the road quite a bit so we gotta go and be tough and be together and do it on the road.”
Then, in Indianapolis, they got a pay off. Portis liked the team’s side-to-side ball movement and felt his team was able to get rhythm shots, and he felt like Indiana wasn’t able to get out and run as much off turnovers.
“Everything that we worked on carried over to the game,” Portis said following the win over the Pacers. “I think as a team when you work on things you want to see carry over, whether it’s a win or a lost, you want to just keep trending, right? So the things that we worked on throughout practice and shootarounds, it was very much so valuable for us tonight. We got great looks, great shot attempts. Then on denes we were heling each other, we were talking, rotating and things like that. You just want carry over from practice and shootaround you just hope to trend in the right direction.”
Bucks guard Gary Trent Jr. leaves game injured
Milwaukee guard Gary Trent Jr. suffered a bruise on his left calf after he made a layup with just seconds remaining in the first quarter, and was ultimately ruled out for the game by the team. Trent had come off the bench and scored five points in five minutes before his injury.
Giannis Antetokounmpo went through 3-on-3 workout
Following the Bucks’ shootaround on Dec. 23 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo remained on the court and went through a halfcourt, 3-on-3 session for about 10-to-15 minutes with teammates and under the supervision of assistant coaches and the sports performance staff.
“He’s getting closer, but I don’t know if today was an important day or not,” Bucks head coach Doc Rivers said before the game vs. the Pacers. “I just know he’s not playing tonight.”
A highlight was a thunderous dunk by Antetokounmpo, much to the delight of some of his other teammates who were watching from the sideline. The MVP candidate also worked through defensive rotations along with setting screens for ball handlers.
“We’re not focused on (his return),” Rivers said. “We’re not. We’re trying to win tonight. We don’t get stuck on what happened yesterday, if we won 10 in a row or lost five in a row. We’re focused on getting better today. That’s been our focus. We knew Giannis wasn’t playing tonight so we didn’t really worry about it too much.”
Antetokounmpo has been out since Dec. 3 with a strain in his right calf.
5 numbers
3-10: Bucks record without Giannis Antetokounmpo.
1-3: Bucks record when they have a rest advantage (when the other team is on the second night of a back-to-back). Indiana played at Boston on Dec. 22.
2-5: Bucks record when playing a team that is on the second night of a back-to-back.
8.9: Percent chance the Bucks had at making the Eastern Conference playoffs heading into the game, per ESPN analytics.
11/10/25: Date of the Bucks last road victory, at Dallas. Milwaukee had lost eight straight away from Fiserv Forum before beating the Pacers.
Jon McGlocklin, Marques Johnson, Doc Rivers eligible for Hall of Fame
On Dec. 19 the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame announced an eligible list of candidates for the class of 2026 and former Bucks all-star Marques Johnson and head coach Doc Rivers once again were part of the collection of players, coaches and contributors who are eligible. The inducted class will be unveiled on April 4.
Johnson was a finalist in 2025, as well as from 2018-22.
Rivers first became eligible last year but did not reach the finalist stage. He is currently the only NBA head coach with at least 1,000 wins that has not been enshrined. Rivers is currently No. 7 all-time with 1,174 victories.
Jon McGlocklin, nicknamed “The Original Buck,” is once again a nominee in the contributor category. Though he was an all-star and helped the Bucks win the 1971 NBA championship, he spent 35 years in the broadcast booth as the team’s television color analyst and, more importantly, co-founded the Midwest Athletes Against Childhood Cancer, Inc. (MACC) Fund with former Bucks play-by-play voice Eddie Doucette in 1976.
Other eligible people with Milwaukee ties include former Bucks players Terry Cummings, Scott Skiles, Mike Gminski and assistant coach Tim Grgurich. Racine native and Marquette University alumnus Jim Chones is a veteran nominee and former UW-Milwaukee head coach Bruce Pearl is also eligible.
Is Giannis playing?
No. The Bucks superstar has been out since Dec. 3, when he strained the soleus muscle in his right calf. He said on Dec. 18 that he was given a four-to-six week recovery period, but he had participated in some fashion during the team’s last practice on Dec. 20 and at shootaround in Minnesota on Dec. 21.
What is the Bucks record without Giannis?
2-10
Milwaukee’s only victories without their star came on Oct. 30 vs. Golden State and Dec. 11 vs. Boston.
Milwaukee Bucks injury reportTaurean Prince, out (neck surgery)Giannis Antetokounmpo, out (right calf strain)Bucks starting lineupGuards: Kevin Porter Jr., AJ GreenForwards: Kyle Kuzma, Bobby Portis Jr.Center: Myles TurnerWhat time is the Bucks game tonight?
Tip-off is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. CT.
What channel is the Bucks game on?
The game will be broadcast locally on FanDuel Sports Network Wisconsin with Lisa Byington, Marques Johnson and Stephen Watson on the call.
Bucks vs. Pacers odds
Milwaukee is a 1.5-point favorite over Indiana, with the over/under set at 218.5 points, per BetMGM.