BUCKS SURGING TOWARDS PLAYOFFS

John Salmons scored 20 points, and Brandon Jennings had 18 points and seven assists to help the Milwaukee Bucks win their fifth straight game, 112-110 over the Indiana Pacers on Thursday night. Andrew Bogut added 15 points and 10 rebounds for the Bucks, 29-28 overall and 3-0 against the Pacers this season. Danny Granger had 21 points, and T.J. Ford added 17 for Indiana. The Pacers have dropped three straight and seven of eight to fall to 19-39. Milwaukee had a 16-point lead in the third quarter, but Troy Murphy's 3-pointer cut it to 103-97 with 4 minutes left in the game. Following Jennings' 3, the Pacers got six straight points from Ford and Murphy to pull to 106-103. Earl Watson's basket for Indiana made it 108-106 with 31 seconds left, but Salmons answered with a pair of free throws to push the lead back to four. Granger converted two free throws with 10 seconds left, and Jennings made a pair for Milwaukee. Ford was fouled shooting a 3 with 1.5 seconds left. He made the first two and intentionally missed the third. The first half featured nine ties and seven lead changes and neither team led by more than seven points. (San Luis Obispo)