MIL Bucks @ IND Pacers - Fear the Deer

Milwaukee Bucks

Bucks lost Khris Middleton to a leg injury last game in OKC, he will be gone for a time but I think the Bucks still have the strength to manage his absence. The team have a lot of good roleplayers and even if Khris is their closer down the strech I think Bledsoe and Lopez can fill the void nicely. Bucks have a good record against their conference rivals this year and tonight they are playing the Pacers who played a tough game against the Rockets just now. Bucks come in to this game with a bit of momentum winning against the Bulls making it the second straight for them.

Bucks are a simular team to the Rockets in their style of play focusing on threes and the paint with Giannis. Like I said they have lost Middleton for awhile which is a blow but I feel like the Bucks still can take the victory against this Indiana team who has a couple of key players injured. Bucks will operate in the paint with Giannis as the Pacers lack strength and height in there against Giannis, they've got Sabonis but he's not really a rim protector and he will have a tough time staying infront Giannis because of the height and strength advantage hes got. Lopez can get Sabonis out of the paint anyways with his shooting. Bledsoe has a good matchup too now that Malcom Brogdan probably will not play after suffering a back injury in the in Houston. Aaron Holiday or Justin Holiday will have the task to hold Bledsoe down in the points colum, maybe Justin will be the better fit on him.

Bucks have more edge in the matchup and with Pacers being down so many key players + b2b after a tough game in Houston, the Bucks will surley what to kill this game off early and they got a good matchup all over the floor against this Pacer team even if they got a good defense and a defensive mentallity I don't think the Bucks will have a huge problem going over this line.

Indiana Pacers

Like I said earlier the Pacers played the Rockets this evening, a tough game which they lost. Now they are flying back to Indianapolis to meet their division rival the Bucks. Pacers this year, with the injuries they have, are not a good of a team like last year or the year before. They are waiting on Victor Oladipo to come back from injury, Myles Turner out, Brogdan probably out, Lamb out. All these players are key to the Pacers success and it will be tough to go up against the Bucks in this situation. It's a big blow that Sabonis is not coming of the bench anymore imo now that he's a starter because the bench is weaker without him. The Pacer defense and their mentallity will help them win a lot of games but now they have a bit of a worse matchup against the Bucks who are stronger and faster. They will have a tough time stopping Antetokounmpo in the paint and on the boards, can Sabonis stop him in the paint? Will he step out and guard Lopez more out to the three point line? Pick your poision.

Bet

Bucks are the stronger team going in to this matchup and they want to keep building their momentum with the two wins earlier. Pacers have so many injures going in and it will tough for them to keep up with the Bucks, especially when their offense isn't something special. They play at a slower pace than most teams and it will always be harder to get good positions to score when the defense is set. They don't really have the power to move this Bucks at this moment in time with so many injuries and going against one of the best teams in the league will not be easy.

Giannis is going to beast and feast inside the paint and it will not be a surprise if this becomes a blowout early.