Sports Mole previews Tuesday’s NBA clash between Indiana Pacers and Milwaukee Bucks, including predictions, team news and form guides.
The Indiana Pacers and the Milwaukee Bucks will take to the court for the second game of their playoff first-round series at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Wednesday.
Saturday’s opening clash saw the home side put on a dominant display en route to a 117-98 victory, and the onus is now on the away side to mount a response.
Match preview
© Imago
Back in playoff action for the first time since they were swept in last season’s Eastern Conference finals, the Indiana Pacers could not have asked for a better start to their postseason journey, laying down an early statement of intent against the Bucks.
Rick Carlisle‘s men were beaten in three of the most recent four matchups against their Eastern rivals but were in control from start to finish last time out, having been ahead for 46 of the 48 minutes of play.
Pascal Siakam, Myles Turner and Andrew Nembhard combined for 61 points to propel the Pacers to victory despite a rough scoring night for floor general Tyrese Haliburton, who managed just 10 points on 3-13 shooting from the field.
That was an eighth victory in nine matches for the Pacers since the beginning of April, with their only defeat in that time coming against the Orlando Magic in last week’s penultimate regular-season encounter.
Wednesday’s hosts are flying on home turf with a 16-3 record over their last 19 matches, and another win in front of their fans would put them in pole position to eliminate the Bucks at this stage for the second season running.
© Imago
Having ended the regular season on an impressive eight-game winning streak, the Milwaukee Bucks were starting to gain some momentum ahead of the start of their playoff campaign against familiar foes in the Pacers.
Nonetheless, Doc Rivers‘s men were always go to be up against it in Saturday’s opening instalment, especially with Damian Lillard unavailable to feature due to a deep vein thrombosis in his right calf that had kept him out for a while.
In Lillard’s absence, Giannis Antetokounmpo came up with yet another much-needed offensive splurge with 36 points and 12 rebounds, albeit all to no avail, largely due to a lack of significant contribution from the rest of his teammates.
With Lillard scheduled to return to action in the coming week, the Bucks have been handed a huge boost with regard to their chances of making it through but will need to avoid going further behind in the series.
For a team that recorded the best shooting percentage from three-point land during the regular season, Wednesday’s visitors managed to knock down only nine of their 37 attempts from beyond the arc in Game One, which is something that needs to improve going forward if they are to scale through.
Indiana Pacers NBA Playoffs form:
Milwaukee Bucks NBA Playoffs form:
Team News
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Isaiah Jackson is ruled out for the remainder of the season with a torn Achilles and is currently focused on making a full recovery ahead of the start of the next campaign.
Twenty-three-year-old Ben Sheppard has missed each of the hosts’ last six matches with a toe problem and remains a huge doubt for Wednesday’s encounter.
Damian Lillard is drawing increasingly closer to coming back for the Bucks, although there is still no clarity as to whether he will be passed fit in time to feature here.
Despite tallying a season-high 20 points in the visitors’ final regular season game against the Detroit Pistons, Tyler Smith did not get a runout in Saturday’s clash and is largely expected to miss out entirely on Wednesday as well.
Recording no points, rebounds, assists, steals or blocks, Kyle Kuzma had a horror show against the Pacers last time out and could have his minutes significantly reduced in this one.
Indiana Pacers possible starting five:
Haliburton, Nembhard; Nesmith, Siakam; Turner
Milwaukee Bucks possible starting five:
Rollins, Prince; Kuzma, Antetokounmpo; Lopez
We say: Pacers to win by 7+ points
The Bucks showed some signs of life towards the final knockings of Game One but had already left themselves with too much ground to make up.
While we expect the away side to give a better account of themselves this time around, we can see the home side coming out on top once again.
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