But former Marquette University guard and Fond du Lac native Travis Diener was on the inactive list for the fifth straight game due to a sore left foot.

Ford sparked a second-half comeback by Indiana, which trailed by 18 points at halftime but grabbed a 103-102 lead on his 16-foot jumper with 4 minutes 42 seconds remaining. Milwaukee then scored the final 19 points of the game to pull away.

"It's tough when you spot a team that many points and you have to chase them down," Ford said.

The former University of Texas star was 8 for 14 from the field and 10 of 11 at the free-throw line and added six assists and five rebounds while playing 35 minutes.

"I was getting in a good rhythm and just able to get to my spots and make plays," Ford said. "If I can get my shot, get it. If not, I was finding guys for open looks. Defensively is what hurt us tonight."

The Pacers (7-15) lost their sixth straight game, with their last victory coming Dec. 2 when they upset the Los Angeles Lakers on a buzzer-beating tip-in by Troy Murphy.

Ford was part of a franchise-shaking trade during the off-season, when he was obtained from Toronto along with center Rasho Nesterovic, forward Maceo Baston and the rights to rookie center Roy Hibbert, in exchange for power forward Jermaine O'Neal and the rights to draft pick Nathan Jawai.

"He's a very good guy to have on our Basketball team, and he really creates a nice tempo," Pacers coach Jim O'Brien said. "He's a very unselfish player.

"He's learning the balance between dribbling and attacking, and passing and moving. All of our players have to pass and move, no matter what position they play. He's the quarterback of our team, along with Jarrett Jack and Travis, when he's healthy."

Ford's effectiveness has been hampered somewhat by the absence of three-point shooter Mike Dunleavy, who has not played yet this season due to a sore right knee.

Entering Saturday's game, Ford had 55 assists and 19 turnovers for an assist/turnover ratio of 2.89 to 1.

"In his college career and his pro career, he's had the ball in his hands all the time," O'Brien said. "That can work against you. If we were surrounding him with four great shooters, he could really be more effective with the dribble.

"But now if you don't have those shooters on the court, they're all loaded to the lane and the dribbling becomes less effective than the pass and the movement."

Diener had off-season surgery to remove a bone spur under his left big toe. He has appeared in only eight games this season and averaged 2.4 points.

The injury has proved to be a serious setback after he played in 66 games with the Pacers last season, including 21 starts, and averaged 6.9 points. In his last 44 appearances, he averaged 5.1 assists.

"He just hasn't been able to get rid of the pain in that area of the foot," O'Brien said. "It's preventing him from practicing. When he does practice, he's limited.

"The last couple days I couldn't have him in either (practices or games). We miss having a guy who had a 5-to-1 assist/turnover ratio last year. He's also our best shooting point guard. We miss the ability to space the court."

Croshere faces former mates: Bucks forward Austin Croshere, who played the first nine years of his 11-year career with the Pacers, faced his former teammates Saturday and got a look off the bench.

"I'm not afraid to put him in a game," Bucks coach Scott Skiles said. "We've got a bit of a logjam up front there. He's a good veteran leader; he's a voice of reason and knows what it takes. He's not afraid to speak up and say things, so he's been valuable."

Croshere played 7 minutes, going 3 for 3 from the field and scoring seven points.

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