Pacers at Bucks
THE STORY: The Milwaukee Bucks cannot afford many more losses as they try to make up two games with seven games left to play. Two of those are against the Indiana Pacers, who occupy the No. 3 spot in the Eastern Conference, sitting three games clear of the fourth-place Boston Celtics. The Bucks saw their hopes slipping away with back-to-back losses earlier in the week but bounced back on Friday in a 113-97 triumph at Detroit.
TV: 8:30 p.m. ET, FSIN (Indiana), FSWI (Milwaukee)
ABOUT THE PACERS (37-22): After back-to-back wins over the Cleveland Cavaliers and seven of eight this month, any chance Indiana had of surrendering its spot to the Celtics have been diminished considerably. The Pacers have averaged 105.3 points in the seven triumphs, with Danny Granger leading a balanced scoring effort. After getting by on its defense for the first few months, Indiana has gone over 100 points in 11 of its last 14 games. The Pacers went back to the defense on Friday, holding the Cavaliers to 35.4 percent shooting in the 102-83 win.
ABOUT THE BUCKS (29-30): Milwaukee had climbed back to .500 with a four-game winning streak before falling to the West-leading Oklahoma City Thunder and dropping a home game to the team it is chasing, the New York Knicks, on Wednesday. The Bucks allowed an average of 110 points in those two setbacks. They were a bit better defensively on Friday, holding the Pistons under the century mark. But the big difference was on offense, where Milwaukee had all five of its starters score at least 14 points and all but one shoot better than 50 percent from the floor. The Bucks had no defense for the Pacers on Mar. 24, dropping a 125-104 decision at home as they sent Indiana to the free throw line 39 times.
BUZZER BEATERS:
1. Indiana has taken three straight in the series.
2. Pacers C Roy Hibbert has recorded a double-double in three of the last five games.
3. After playing only five minutes on Wednesday, Bucks C Drew Gooden bounced back with 26 points in 36 minutes on Friday.