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Big fourth quarter lifts Pacers over Bucks

Apr 7, 2008 - 3:08 AM INDIANAPOLIS (Ticker) -- With a huge fourth quarter, the Indiana Pacers kept their slim playoff hopes alive on Sunday.

Danny Granger scored 27 points and Mike Dunleavy added 17 as the Pacers rallied for a 105-97 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks.

Jeff Foster had 16 points and 15 rebounds for Indiana (33-44), which moved within three games of idle Atlanta (36-41) for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference with five games to play.

Granger shot 9-of-21 from the floor and added seven rebounds and three steals, scoring nine of his points in the final period.

"We realize that any loss right now could be our season," Granger said. "With that on our backs, we just kept pushing along and turned it on in the fourth."

Trailing by 10 points to begin the fourth quarter, Indiana scored the first 16 points en route to a 19-1 burst that gave the Pacers an 86-78 lead with 7:27 remaining. Travis Diener made three 3-pointers and Dunleavy connected on two during the run.

The Bucks never got closer than six the rest of the way and were outscored, 38-20, in the final period.

"We were a step slow in the fourth quarter and, once we got behind the eight ball, they got a lot of momentum and we couldn't stop them," Bucks forward Desmond Mason said.

Diener led the late charge for Indiana, scoring 15 of his 18 points in the period and going 5-of-6 from the arc.

"I felt good," Diener said. "I was getting some great passes from my teammates and they were looking for me. They did a good job finding me."

Diener even drew praise from Milwaukee guard Michael Redd.

"He went nuts," Redd said. "He was hitting threes everywhere, pushing the ball up the court and getting other guys shots. He did a great job."

The teams went back-and-forth during the first half before the Bucks ended the second quarter on a 9-2 run to take a 52-49 lead at the break.

Milwaukee remained in front during the third quarter and finished the period strong, using an 11-3 run to take its largest lead at 77-67 entering the fourth. Redd had five points during the spurt.

"I feel good about our resilience and attitude," Pacers coach Jim O'Brien said. "Our guys are ... very hungry to get in the playoffs."

Redd finished with 24 points and Charlie Villanueva had 22 and 13 rebounds to pace the Bucks, who had lost to the Pacers on Friday and allowed an opponent to top 100 points for the eighth consecutive contest.