Middleton, Portis each score 29 as Bucks stay alive with 115-92 victory over Pacers in Game 5

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Bobby Portis apologized to his teammates for his ejection from a Game 4 loss that put the Milwaukee Bucks on the brink of playoff elimination.

Then he made amends by helping the Bucks keep their season alive.

Portis and Khris Middleton each scored 29 points and the short-handed Bucks routed the Indiana Pacers 115-92 in Game 5 of their Eastern Conference first-round playoff series on Tuesday night.

The Pacers still lead the best-of-seven series 3-2 heading into Game 6 on Thursday in Indianapolis.

“Thursday will be fun,” Portis said. “I can hear some ‘Bobby Sucks!’ chants. I'm ready, man. I'm fired up. I'm already ready for it.”

Milwaukee won without injured stars Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard as the Fiserv Forum crowd chanted: “Bucks In Seven.”

Antetokounmpo has missed this entire series and hasn’t played since straining his left calf on April 9. Lillard sat out a second straight game after injuring his Achilles tendon in the Bucks’ 121-118 Game 3 loss on Friday.

Bucks coach Doc Rivers was asked after Game 5 about their potential availability for the rest of the series.

“I don’t know how to answer that," Rivers said. "I know I hope. I think they’re very, very, very close.”

The Bucks stayed alive thanks in part to a huge performance from Portis, who had been ejected just seven minutes into Game 4 after getting into a skirmish with Indiana's Andrew Nembhard. Portis said he watched the rest of that game while still in uniform, wondering about all the ways in which his presence on the floor might have made a difference.

He came back Tuesday and produced the highest playoff point total of his career. He also pulled down 10 rebounds.

“I maybe crossed the line, you feel me, and let my team down by getting ejected and not being available for my team,” Portis said. “I pride myself so much on being available.”

Middleton had his third straight game with at least 25 points, and he also had 12 rebounds and five assists.

The Bucks are trying to win a series after trailing 3-1 for the first time in franchise history. The Pacers are attempting to advance beyond the opening round for the first time since 2014.

“We've just got to understand that they're a team that's on the brink of their season being done, and they're playing desperate, they're playing hard, as they should be,” Indiana's Tyrese Haliburton said. “At the end of the day, they outcompeted us tonight. They played harder. They played better. They kind of just dominated us in every facet of the game tonight.”

Haliburton scored 16 points to lead the Pacers, who had their lowest scoring total of the season. Myles Turner added 13. Obi Toppin, Nembhard and Pascal Siakam had 12 each.

Malik Beasley scored 18 points for Milwaukee. Pat Beverley had 13 points and 12 assists, and sparked a second-quarter run that put the Bucks ahead for good.

Indiana started the night intent on closing this series early.

Two nights after shooting 22 of 43 from 3-point range in Game 3, the Pacers went 7 of 12 from beyond the arc in the first 10 minutes and led 31-21 late in the first quarter.

But the Bucks responded with an 18-2 run as Beverley continually irritated the Pacers — to the delight of the crowd.

Shortly after a 3-pointer by Middleton put the Bucks ahead for good, Toppin was called for traveling in front of Milwaukee’s bench. As Beverley tried to grab the ball from him, Toppin shoved the Bucks guard and drew a technical foul.

On the Bucks’ ensuing possession, Beverley hit a short jumper while getting fouled by Haliburton. Beverley did a particularly showy version of the “Too Small” taunting gesture before sinking his free throw to complete a three-point play that gave Milwaukee a 39-33 lead.

“I thought Pat Beverley was fantastic,” Rivers said. “His scoring was good, but I thought his playmaking was unbelievable tonight.”

Milwaukee led 53-48 at halftime and then scored the first nine points of the third quarter. Indiana got the margin down to nine midway through the third, but the Bucks outscored the Pacers 20-8 over the next 5½ minutes to put the game away.

“We just didn't play with the consistent compete level we needed to," Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. “I'll take responsibility for that. I didn't have these guys ready the way they needed to be ready to play this game."

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Indiana Pacers' Pascal Siakam fouls Milwaukee Bucks' Danilo Gallinari during the first half of Game 5 of the NBA playoff basketball series Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

Milwaukee Bucks' Patrick Beverley shoots past Indiana Pacers' Andrew Nembhard during the first half of Game 5 of the NBA playoff basketball series Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

Milwaukee Bucks' Khris Middleton tries to get past Indiana Pacers' Aaron Nesmith during the first half of Game 5 of the NBA playoff basketball series Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

Milwaukee Bucks' Pat Connaughton gets past Indiana Pacers' T.J. McConnell during the first half of Game 5 of the NBA playoff basketball series Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

Milwaukee Bucks' Khris Middleton tries to get past Indiana Pacers' Aaron Nesmith during the first half of Game 5 of the NBA playoff basketball series Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

Milwaukee Bucks' Patrick Beverley tries to get past Indiana Pacers' Andrew Nembhard during the first half of Game 5 of the NBA playoff basketball series Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

Milwaukee Bucks' Patrick Beverley reacts after making a shot and being fouled during the first half of Game 5 of the NBA playoff basketball series Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

Milwaukee Bucks' Bobby Portis (9) shoves Indiana Pacers' Andrew Nembhard, left, during the first half of Game 4 of the first round NBA playoff basketball series, Sunday, April 28, 2024, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

Milwaukee Bucks' Bobby Portis (9) goes to the basket against Indiana Pacers' Pascal Siakam (43) during the first half of Game 4 of the first round NBA playoff basketball series, Sunday, April 28, 2024, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

A potential multibillion-dollar settlement of an antitrust lawsuit has cleared the first of a three-step NCAA approval process, with no change to a payment structure that would have the 27 college conferences not named in the suit cover the majority of a $1.6 billion portion of the damages.

The Division I Board of Directors finance committee on Monday night passed the proposed $2.77 billion settlement of House vs. NCAA to the full board with a recommendation to stick with the original finance plan.

The NCAA, Big Ten, Big 12, Atlantic Coast Conference, Pac-12 and Southeastern Conference are defendants in the House case, a class-action lawsuit that seeks back pay for college athletes who were denied name, image and likeness compensation dating to 2016. The NCAA lifted its ban on athletes earning money for sponsorship and endorsement deals in 2021.

Moving forward, it will be the Big Ten, Big 12, ACC and SEC carrying the financial burden in a proposed revenue-sharing system that asks each of its schools to commit upwards of $20 million per year to be paid directly to athletes. The overall commitment is expected to be about $300 million per school over 10 years.

The NCAA office is set to cover the damages portion of the case over 10 years through a reduction of operating expenses, insurance and reserve funds. Withheld distributions to its 352 Division I member schools would cover the rest.

The approved finance plan calls for the NCAA to cover 41% of the $2.77 billion in damages, with the Power Five conferences accounting for 24% and the other five major college football conferences Group of Five covering 10%.

The conferences that compete in the second tier of Division I football, the Championship Subdivision, would cover 14% of the overall settlement and the non-football D-I conferences would be on the hook for 12%.

The conference commissioners from leagues that do not compete at the highest tier of Division I football, the Bowl Subdivision, have taken issue with the $1.6 billion in withheld distribution portion of the settlement. The 27 conferences not named in the lawsuit are expected to cover 60% of withheld distributions, with the other 40% coming from power conferences that are currently comprised of 69 schools.

The commissioners of the 22 non-FBS conferences sent a memo to NCAA leadership, proposing the finance structure be flipped so power conference withheld distributions cover 60% of the $1.6 billion.

Big Sky Commissioner Tom Wistrcill said Tuesday the non-FBS conferences were holding out hope for reconsideration.

"We’re fighting uphill," he said.

The Big Sky is one of the most successful conferences in the Championship Subdivision, with schools such as Montana, Montana State, Eastern Washington, Idaho State and Weber State.

The settlement proposal still needs approval from the Division I Board of Directors and the NCAA’s Board of Governors, which was scheduled to meet later Tuesday. The settlement also needs approval from the presidential boards of each of the Power Five conferences, also known as autonomy conferences.

“We believe over 95% of the damages are going to go to A5 football and basketball players. For non-A5 conferences to pay for that is disproportionate. We’re asking for a more proportionate structure because our student-athletes are not going to see the money," Wistrcill said,

Plaintiffs' lawyers have given the NCAA and conferences until Thursday to respond to the settlement proposal, with parties on both sides sounding hopeful that it will be approved.

The conferences not named in the lawsuit did not found out about details of the settlement until two weeks ago through media reports, Wistrcill said. He said they are hoping the settlement can be approved with an opportunity for the NCAA financing plan to be readdressed.

Wistrcill said the formula for withheld distributions the NCAA is using, which is based on the percentage a conference received of overall NCAA distributions between 2016-2024, is projected to cost the Big Sky around $3 million per year over 10 years.

He said while power conferences will have a larger total distribution withheld on a per school basis, that revenue is a much smaller part of athletic department budgets that typically soar past $100 million annually. Big Sky school athletic budgets run about $20 million annually.

“The money is flowing to their student-athletes even though disproportionately (the settlement) is penalizing our institutions,” Wistrcill said.

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Follow Ralph D. Russo at https://twitter.com/ralphDrussoAP and listen at http://www.appodcasts.com

AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/college-football

FILE - Wisconsin's Traevon Jackson dribbles past the NCAA logo during practice at the NCAA men's college basketball tournament March 26, 2014, in Anaheim, Calif. University presidents around the country are scheduled to meet this week in May 2024, to vote on whether to accept a proposed settlement of an antitrust lawsuit that would cost the NCAA nearly $3 billion in damages. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)

FILE - In this April 25, 2018, file photo, the NCAA headquarters is shown in Indianapolis. University presidents around the country are scheduled to meet this week in May 2024, to vote on whether to accept a proposed settlement of an antitrust lawsuit that would cost the NCAA nearly $3 billion in damages. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings, File)