The Milwaukee Bucks and the Indiana Pacers will start its best-of-seven series on Sunday, April 21 with tipoff scheduled for 6 p.m. CT on TNT at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The Bucks will be looking to go up 1-0 in this series over the Pacers and there will be a lot of challenges to start this series.
Milwaukee will be without Giannis Antetokounmpo with a calf injury to start the series and will see if Damian Lillard also suits up in Game 1 with an injury of his own. They will need Lillard in Game 1 in order to get off on the right foot in this series.
During the regular season, the Bucks lost 4-1 in the season series against the Pacers, but it is a totally different ball game now. Milwaukee has been in the playoffs over the last several seasons and Indiana has not been to the playoffs in a few years.
In 73 games during the regular season, Damian Lillard averaged 24.3 PPG, 4.4 RPG, and 7.0 APG. He will need to be the leader like he was with the Portland Trail Blazers.
A player that will have to play well in this series is Khris Middleton. In 55 regular season games. he averaged 15.1 PPG, 4.7 RPG, and 5.3 APG. Middleton will have to be the second-scoring option with Giannis Antetokounmpo sidelined to start the series.
Bobby Portis Jr. played in all 82 games this season for Milwaukee. He is very well going to be the Sixth Man of the Year in the NBA. Portis Jr. averaged 13.8 PPG, 7.4 RPG, and 1.3 APG this season and he is a fan favorite. Head coach Doc Rivers is looking to keep his team focused ahead of Game 1.
Players To Watch For On the Indiana Pacers Against the Milwaukee Bucks
Indiana has one of the most lethal offenses in the NBA this season. Milwaukee needs to be prepared defensively to slow it down and head coach Rick Carlisle has done a good job this season of making the Pacers play uptempo.
Tyrese Haliburton is the one player that Milwaukee will need to slow down and that will need to be Patrick Beverley’s job. He had their number during the five meetings during the regular season. Overall, Haliburton played in 69 games this season and averaged 20.1 PPG, 3.9 RPG, and 10.9 APG and led the league in assists per game this year.
Pascal Siakam played in 41 games with the Pacers this season after being traded away from the Toronto Raptors. He was in the playoffs before and won an NBA Championship in 2019 with them. Siakam averaged 21.3 PPG, 7.8 RPG, and 3.7 APG.
Myles Turner has played in 77 games this season for Indiana. He averaged 17.1 PPG, 6.9 RPG, and 1.9 BPG. Turner is someone who could neutralize Brook Lopez in this series.
It would not be a surprise to see the Indiana Pacers win Game 1 against the Milwaukee Bucks because of the current injury situation. Milwaukee has also not played well and Indiana is playing with house money in this series. The pressure is all on the Bucks and none of it is on the Pacers.