Bucks take big lead and then hang on down the stretch to beat Pacers 126-119

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Giannis Antetokounmpo had 34 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists before fouling out and the Milwaukee Bucks defeated the Indiana Pacers 126-119 on Saturday night.

After trailing 105-84 with 11 minutes left, Indiana made a frantic comeback and cut Milwaukee’s lead to 122-119 on Andrew Nembhard’s 3-pointer with 12.5 seconds remaining. The Bucks had led 117-106 when Antetokounmpo fouled out with 2:46 left.

Taurean Prince and Kevin Porter Jr. went 4 of 4 on free-throw attempts down the stretch to preserve the Bucks' victory.

Damian Lillard added 25 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists as the Bucks (38-28) took a one-game lead over Indiana in the race for fourth place in the Eastern Conference standings and home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs.

The Bucks went 3-1 against the Pacers this season and would own the head-to-head tiebreaker if they end up with the same record.

Aaron Nesmith scored 30, Pascal Siakam 26 and Tyrese Haliburton 24 for the Pacers. Haliburton also had 15 assists to match his season high.

The two teams were meeting four nights after Haliburton’s four-point play with 3.4 seconds left gave the Pacers a 115-114 victory over the Bucks in Indiana. That created a playoff-type atmosphere Saturday with a spirited crowd frequently booing the Pacers.

Pacers: Playing one night after a 112-100 triumph at Philadephia, the Pacers could have let up after falling behind by 21 in the fourth quarter. They instead made this one come down to the wire.

Bucks: Milwaukee has won two straight games to bounce back from a three-game skid

Prince made a few big plays down the stretch to help the Bucks survive. He made a 3-pointer with 1:50 left after Indiana cut the lead to six. Prince also went 4 of 4 from the foul line over the final 18.2 seconds.

Milwaukee shot 54.4% to help the Bucks withstand 15 turnovers.

The Bucks host the West-leading Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday. The Pacers visit the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday.

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba

Milwaukee Bucks' Kyle Kuzma (18) puts up a shot against the Indiana Pacers during the first half of an NBA basketball game Saturday, March 15, 2025, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps)

Milwaukee Bucks' Damian Lillard (0) drives against the Indiana Pacers' Miles Turner during the first half of an NBA basketball game Saturday, March 15, 2025, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps)

Milwaukee Bucks' Damian Lillard (0) puts up a shot against the Indiana Pacers' Tyrese Haliburton during the first half of an NBA basketball game Saturday, March 15, 2025, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps)

Milwaukee Bucks center Brook Lopez (11) dunks the ball against the Indiana Pacers during the first half of an NBA basketball game Saturday, March 15, 2025, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps)

Milwaukee Bucks' Damian Lillard (0) drives against the Indiana Pacers' Miles Turner during the first half of an NBA basketball game Saturday, March 15, 2025, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps)

Milwaukee Bucks' Giannis Antetokounmpo (34) reaches for a rebound against the Indiana Pacers during the first half of an NBA basketball game Saturday, March 15, 2025, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps)

Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (34) drives against the Indiana Pacers' Pascal Siakam during the first half of an NBA basketball game Saturday, March 15, 2025, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps)

Milwaukee Bucks' Giannis Antetokounmpo (34) drives against the Indiana Pacers' Miles Turner during the first half of an NBA basketball game Saturday, March 15, 2025, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps)

Milwaukee Bucks' Giannis Antetokounmpo (34) drives against the Indiana Pacers during the first half of an NBA basketball game Saturday, March 15, 2025, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps)

JERUSALEM (AP) — Over two dozen families from one of the few remaining Palestinian Bedouin villages in the central West Bank have packed up and fled their homes in recent days, saying harassment by Jewish settlers living in unauthorized outposts nearby has grown unbearable.

The village, Ras Ein el-Auja, was originally home to some 700 people from more than 100 families that have lived there for decades.

Twenty-six families already left on Thursday, scattering across the territory in search of safer ground, say rights groups. Several other families were packing up and leaving on Sunday.

“We have been suffering greatly from the settlers. Every day, they come on foot, or on tractors, or on horseback with their sheep into our homes. They enter people’s homes daily,” said Nayef Zayed, a resident, as neighbors took down sheep pens and tin structures.

Israel's military and the local settler governing body in the area did not respond to requests for comment.

Other residents pledged to stay put for the time being. That makes them some of the last Palestinians left in the area, said Sarit Michaeli, international director at B’Tselem, an Israeli rights group helping the residents.

She said that mounting settler violence has already emptied neighboring Palestinian hamlets in the dusty corridor of land stretching from Ramallah in the West to Jericho, along the Jordanian border, in the east.

The area is part of the 60% of the West Bank that has remained under full Israeli control under interim peace accords signed in the 1990s. Since the war between Israel and Hamas erupted in October 2023, over 2,000 Palestinians — at least 44 entire communities — have been expelled by settler violence in the area, B'Tselem says.

The turning point for the village came in December, when settlers put up an outpost about 50 meters (yards) from Palestinian homes on the northwestern flank of the village, said Michaeli and Sam Stein, an activist who has been living in the village for a month.

Settlers strolled easily through the village at night. Sheep and laundry went missing. International activists had to begin escorting children to school to keep them safe.

“The settlers attack us day and night, they have displaced us, they harass us in every way” said Eyad Isaac, another resident. “They intimidate the children and women.”

Michaeli said she’s witnessed settlers walk around the village at night, going into homes to film women and children and tampering with the village’s electricity.

The residents said they call the police frequently to ask for help — but it seldom arrives. Settlement expansion has been promoted by successive Israeli governments over nearly six decades. But Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right government, which has placed settler leaders in senior positions, has made it a top priority.

That growth has been accompanied by a spike in settler violence, much of it carried out by residents of unauthorized outposts. These outposts often begin with small farms or shepherding that are used to seize land, say Palestinians and anti-settlement activists. United Nations officials warn the trend is changing the map of the West Bank, entrenching Israeli presence in the area.

Some 500,000 Israelis have settled in the West Bank since Israel captured the territory, along with east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, in the 1967 Mideast war. Their presence is viewed by most of the international community as illegal and a major obstacle to peace. The Palestinians seek all three areas for a future state.

For now, displaced families of the village have dispersed between other villages near the city of Jericho and near Hebron further south, said residents. Some sold their sheep and are trying to move into the cities.

Others are just dismantling their structures without knowing where to go.

"Where will we go? There’s nowhere. We’re scattered,” said Zayed, the resident, “People’s situation is bad. Very bad.”

An Israeli settler herds his flock near his outpost beside the Palestinian village of Ras Ein al-Auja in the West Bank, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

A Palestinian resident of Ras Ein al-Auja village, West Bank burns trash, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

Palestinian children play in the West Bank village of Ras Ein al-Auja, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

Palestinian residents of Ras Ein al-Auja village, West Bank pack up their belongings and prepare to leave their homes after deciding to flee mounting settler violence, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

Palestinian residents of Ras Ein al-Auja village, West Bank pack up their belongings and prepare to leave their homes after deciding to flee mounting settler violence, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)