Indianapolis ? Before tipoff, Indiana Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said he saw a lot of Reggie Miller in Bucks guard Michael Redd.
Maybe a little too much.
Redd scored 11 of his 28 points in the fourth quarter to lead Milwaukee to its first road win of the season, 89-86 over the Pacers on Tuesday night.
“He’s like Reggie,” Bucks coach Terry Porter said. “He’s such a great shooter.”
Desmond Mason added 21 points and seven rebounds for the Bucks, who opened with seven straight road losses before breaking through against Indiana thanks in large part to a 48-34 rebounding advantage.
It was the fifth straight loss for the Pacers, the longest losing streak for Indiana under second-year coach Carlisle.
“It’s tough. Losing five in a row, where some of those games we had a chance to win,” Miller said. “Obviously we’re playing shorthanded, but there’s enough talent and enough depth on this team to win ballgames.”
The game was a yawner for most of three quarters before Redd engaged Miller in a thrilling duel in the fourth.
Playing his second game of the season after missing the first 16 with a broken left hand, Miller was his old unstoppable self. He scored 19 of his 32 points in the fourth quarter, the last coming on a 3-pointer in Mason’s face with 29.9 seconds left to pull the Pacers to 84-83.
But Redd had an answer for nearly every one of Miller’s shots and scored the final nine points for Milwaukee, including a 3-pointer from the top of the key that gave the Bucks an 87-83 lead with seven seconds to play.
“I crave those moments,” said Redd, who was 0-for-5 from 3-point range until his big shot. “That’s why I work so hard in the offseason – for these moments in the last few minutes of games.”
Fred Jones hit a 3-pointer with 4.1 seconds to play, but Redd hit two free throws and Anthony Johnson missed a wide open 3-pointer at the buzzer that would have tied the game.
The Pacers never lost more than two games in a row last season on their way to a Central Division championship and the Eastern Conference finals. They are now 3-6 since their top three players – Ron Artest, Jermaine O’Neal and Stephen Jackson – were suspended for fighting with Detroit fans on Nov. 19.
“To be that close and hang in like this, it’s hard to take much solace in this because losses count for nothing,” Carlisle said.
The Bucks know that. They snapped a three-game losing streak and finally won away from home.
“It feels great to actually close out a game,” Porter said. “We’ve had probably for or five other road games where we were right there and we just didn’t close them out.”
Center Jeff Foster had nine points and six rebounds in 27 minutes in his season debut for the Pacers. He missed the first 17 games after having right hip surgery.
As has been the case all season for Indiana, when one player finally gets healthy, another gets hurt. Starting point guard Jamaal Tinsley missed the game with a sprained right ankle suffered in Saturday’s game at Golden State.
The Bucks have their own injury problems. Keith Van Horn did not make the trip and missed his second straight game after spraining his right ankle in practice. T.J. Ford still has yet to play this season, and Toni Kukoc is also on the injured list.
The injuries and suspensions have forced Carlisle to play the 39-year-old Miller more than he would like. After scoring 23 points in his season debut against Golden State, Miller played 39 minutes on Tuesday, which was just fine with him.
“These guys played for the most part without me for the first month and gave everything, so I’m going to give everything I’ve got until the cavalry gets back,” Miller said. “I don’t care if I have to play 45 minutes a night. I have to pull my share like those guys did the first month when I wasn’t playing.”
He certainly did that on Tuesday, making 11 of 18 shots and 4 of 7 3-pointers. But he didn’t get much help. David Harrison and Fred Jones each scored 13 points and Johnson had nine points and 13 assists.
“He’s showed great signs the first two games of being the old Reggie,” Carlisle said. “But we’re not going to be able to lean on him for 26 to 32 points on a nightly basis. We’re going to have to have others step forward and score.”
Notes: Kendall Gill played in his first game since signing with the Bucks earlier this week. He had three points in 13 minutes. … Pacers president Larry Bird turned 48 on Tuesday. Public address announcer Reb Porter announced the day to the crowd, which responded with a nice ovation. Bird was shown on the scoreboard, and the reserved Hall of Famer smiled and sheepishly shook his head. … Van Horn is listed as day-to-day.
