Milwaukee Bucks visit resurgent Indiana Pacers in heavyweight Eastern Conference clash
Watch Milwaukee Bucks @ Indiana Pacers live on Sky Sports Arena in the early hours of Thursday morning (12am)
Thursday 14 February 2019 04:20, UK
The Milwaukee Bucks put their league-best record to the test with a tough visit to Indiana to face the resurgent Pacers, live on Sky Sports Arena.
Live NBA: Milwaukee @ Indiana
The Bucks (42-14) come into this matchup having won 13 of their last 15 games en route to establishing themselves as the best team in the Eastern Conference. They are now one game up on the Toronto Raptors in second and four-and-a-half games ahead of the Pacers in third.
The Pacers (38-19) looked to be in big trouble when they lost their first four games without All-Star guard Victor Oladipo (knee) but have been excellent since. Indiana have won six straight since that four-game slide and their defense has been superb in that stretch.
The Pacers have allowed 94 points or fewer in five of those outings, and they now sit first in points allowed for the season. The Pacers are allowing just 102.8 points per game for the year and have been even better at home. Indiana allow fewer than 100 points per game at home and that's easily the best mark in the NBA too.
In the first two meetings between these teams, the home team prevailed on both occasions. Both games were decided by 15 points or more.
Key Battle: Giannis vs Pacers interior defense
Antetokounmpo has taken 526 of his 893 shots this season at the rim, per basketballreference.com. He has made 404 (77.6 per cent) of them. Stopping his constant raids to the basket would put give the Bucks' offense a serious problem.
The issue? No team has looked remotely capable of stopping Giannis' athletic attacks to the basket and taking and making the shots he wants. Pacers big men Myles Turner and Domantas Sabonis have a long night ahead of them.
Last time out
Numbers game
9.8 - That's the Bucks net rating, the differential between the points they score per 100 possessions (117.1) and the points they concede per 100 possessions (107.3). It's the best in the NBA.
Milwaukee's numbers speak loudly - the club rank top-three in both offensive and defensive efficiency. The Bucks are the only team in the league to own that distinction and it emphasises just how dangerous they are at both ends of the floor.
One to watch (Bucks): Khris Middleton
Voted into the All-Star Game for the first time is deserved recognition for Middleton, the Bucks' forward who has proven to be the perfect foil for Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Middleton struggled with his three-point shooting throughout December but has come on strong since. He's now averaging 2.3 made threes a game and connecting on 37.7 per cent of his attempts from downtown.
Middleton has proven himself to be the Bucks' best wing defender able to impose his will on the league's most dangerous offensive players. He has faced Raptors' star Kawhi Leonard three times this season and held the former Finals MVP to 11-of-27 shooting when the pair were matched up, per The Ringer's Jonathan Tjarks.
One to watch (Pacers): Bojan Bogdanovic
Forward Bogdanovic led the Pacers to four wins last week, scoring 22.5 points and adding 2.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.3 steals per game to earn Eastern Conference Player of the Week honours for the first time in his career.
With Indiana in desperate need of a scorer to step up to fill the void left by Oladipo's season-ending injury, Bogdanovic answered the call. He has scored at least 20 in five of the Pacers' past six games.
