Jennings, Ellis lead Bucks past Pacers, 99-85

Even so, Skiles was critical of his team's effort late in the fourth quarter when Indiana sliced into what had been a huge lead.

"I'm not real happy with the way we finished that game," he said. "We need to be more professional with the way with finished that game."

The Pacers' offense has struggled so far this season as the team adjusts to playing without Danny Granger, its leading scorer of the past five seasons. Granger is out for about three months with a patella problem in his left knee.

"We knew the schedule was going to be tough early," Indiana coach Frank Vogel said. "We knew adjusting to not having Danny Granger was going to be tough early. We've got to overcome it."

Tobias Harris scored the first five points in the Bucks' opening spurt. Milwaukee also had a 10-0 run midway through the quarter and held a 33-17 advantage at the end of the period.

The Bucks led 60-34 lead at halftime on 48 percent shooting. Indiana, meanwhile, shot just 32 percent in the first half. Milwaukee's lead was 82-53 heading into the fourth.

NOTES: Indiana's George Hill was whistled for a technical foul for arguing as time expired in the first quarter. . Former NBA player, coach and general manager Mike Dunleavy, father of Bucks G-F Mike Dunleavy Jr., attended the game. . Ellis started despite being bothered by a right thumb injury he sustained in Monday's victory over Philadelphia. "It was fairly significant yesterday, but not as bad today," Bucks coach Scott Skiles said prior to the game. .Bucks F Drew Gooden was inactive for the game. He has yet to appear in a contest this season. "We're kind of at a numbers game right now," Skiles said. "Unless there are definite injuries, the way we are set up right now, we have to have a big guy on the inactive list. We can't have a guard on there because we don't have enough guards."