The Milwaukee Bucks’ pursuit of the No. 1 position continues. They will face the play-in-hopeful Indiana Pacers on Wednesday night, earning the No. 1 overall seed in the East.
Without Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jrue Holiday, Milwaukee (54-21) got back on track on Monday night by defeating the Detroit Pistons 126-117 on the road.
The Bucks were led by Khris Middleton, who scored a season-high 34 points and had two double-doubles: Brook Lopez scored 24 points with 14 rebounds, and Bobby Portis scored 21 points with 14 rebounds. In addition, Jevon Carter scored 22 points, going 6-for-8 from long range.
After losing to the Dallas Mavericks 127-104 at home on Monday, Indiana (33-43) plays Milwaukee on a three-game losing streak. Bennedict Mathurin scored 26 points to lead the Pacers, who were without their star trio of Tyrese Haliburton, Buddy Hield, and Myles Turner.
Occasion was not with the group in that frame of mind to individual reasons while Antetokounmpo missed because of right knee irritation.
Before the game against Detroit, Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer said he wasn’t sure if point guard Jason Holiday would be able to play on Wednesday. However, the team didn’t list Holiday on Tuesday’s injury report. Middleton’s knee management is listed as questionable, while Antetokounmpo is listed as probable.
Meanwhile, Goran Dragic, who was acquired by Milwaukee and has since recovered from a knee injury, played his first game on Monday. Meyers Leonard, in any case, stays out with left calf touchiness.
Haliburton (ankle, elbow) and Chris Duarte (ankle) have been ruled out for Indiana, and Turner’s condition (ankle) is in question.
Indiana has removed Hield from its injury list due to a non-COVID illness.
Antetokounmpo drives the Bucks with 31.1 places and 11.7 bounce back per game. Brook Lopez blocks 2.5 shots per game and leads with 7.3 assists and 1.2 steals.
With 20.7 points, 10.4 assists, and 1.6 steals per game, Haliburton leads Indiana. Down low, Myles Turner leads the way with 18 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 2.3 blocks per game, ranking second.
As the Pacers strive for a 2-2 record, this will be their final and fourth meeting. In their previous meeting, which took place in Milwaukee on March 16, Indiana defeated them 139-123 to snap Milwaukee’s 10-game winning streak.
The Bucks still have a 113-92 all-time series advantage.
Milwaukee has the best record in the association, two games up on Boston for the No. With seven games remaining, the Eastern Conference’s No. 1 seed heads into Tuesday’s action.
With just six remaining games, the Pacers are 12th in the East. They are four games behind Chicago for the 10th and final play-in spot in the loss column, with the Wizards ahead of them as well.
