Clutch Mullin, Pacers Top Bucks

February 20, 1999 / 11:19 PM EST / CBS/AP

MILWAUKEE (AP) Larry Bird can't believe Indiana held Milwaukee to 12 fourth-quarter points Saturday night.

Glenn Robinson can't believe Mark Jackson got away with holding him on the game's final play.

The Pacers escaped Milwaukee with an 82-80 victory when the Bucks failed to execute a pick-and-roll with Terrell Brandon and Robinson after calling timeout with 5.4 seconds left.

"You can look at the game tape," Robinson fumed. "It was a mere pick-and-roll. Mark Jackson grabbed my leg. Why not get a call? It was obvious. You're not supposed to get away with a holding call like that."

Milwaukee coach George Karl said that's just life in the NBA and another hard lesson for the Bucks, who lost for the second time in two nights.

"Glenn got held by Jackson. It was a pro hold and it didn't get called. But we shouldn't expect to get it called," Karl said. "The film shows Jackson holds but you're not going to get that call, not against Indiana. You might get it against Sacramento."

Chris Mullin, who stripped Vinny Del Negro's layup, then swished the game-winner from 20 feet with 18.3 seconds left, said there was nothing untoward about the final play, but also nothing surprising.

"We knew what they were going to try to do, get the ball to Glenn Robinson," Mullin said. "We defended pretty well and came up with the loose ball."

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Held by Jackson, Robinson couldn't reach Brandon's bounce pass, which Jalen Rose recovered. He sprinted upcourt as the buzzer went off and Robinson argued for a foul to no avail.

Robinson, coming off a 3-for-16 shooting night at Toronto, scored 31 points despite missing eight minutes in the first quarter after getting poked in the eye.

"We put in a good effort but we came up empty," said Robinson, who had one of only two baskets the Buks managed in the final 7:19.

Bird said the Pacers, who had been off to a disappointing 5-3 start after being anointed the favorite after the Bulls broke up, played their best defense in a long, long time.

"It was a good win for us. We hadn't really been playing that well. I didn't think we could hold them to 12 points" in the final quarter, Bird said. "But we did and we made some plays down at the end."

After Mullin's jumper broke an 80-80 tie, Robinson was blocked by Antonio Davis and Rose was fouled with 6.2 seconds left. He missed both and the Bucks called timeout to set up their last play.

"We knew the play as it was developing," Bird said. "What they were trying to do was run and pick-and-roll with Brandon and Robinson. He was going to kick it back to Robinson for the game-winner but we made a good play."

Or got away with one, accoring to the Bucks.

Reggie Miller scored 20 points for the Pacers and Dale Davis added 10. Mullin had nine.

The game was tied at 68 after three quarters. The Bucks took a 76-73 lead on Robinson's basket with 7:19 left in the game, but they scored just two baskets the rest of the way.

Notes: Rookie Robert "Tractor" Traylor got his first start for Milwaukee in place of Ervin Johnson and had four points and four rebounds in 13 minutes. ... The Pacers swept all four games against the Bucks last season and have now won a franchise-best five straight against Milwaukee. ... The Bucks, who played their fourth game in five nights, get a breather next week, when they play just twice, at Chicago on Tuesday and Denver on Friday. ... Indiana has won 18 of last 24 meetings with Milwaukee. ... Green Bay Packers All-Pro safety LeRoy Butler was courtside. He said he still is having pain in his left ankle from bone chips and damaged ligaments but he doesn't think surgery is necessary.