Bucks at Pacers
The Indiana Pacers aim to extend their season-best winning streak to seven games when they host the Milwaukee Bucks on Thursday. The Pacers have surged up the Eastern Conference standings to take over seventh place but have little margin for error with three teams within two games of them. The Bucks are in better shape, sitting sixth with a 5 1/2-game cushion over ninth-place Charlotte.
Indiana has been locked in on defense during its winning streak, holding all six opponents under 90 points to match a franchise record. The Bucks have been somewhat out of sync since a roster shakeup last month, losing seven of their last 10, but they pulled out a 97-91 win at Orlando on Wednesday. It's the third of four regular-season meetings; the road team has won each of the first two.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, FSN Wisconsin (Milwaukee), FSN Indiana
ABOUT THE BUCKS (34-30): Milwaukee has been in search of a go-to offensive player since trading point guard Brandon Knight, and it might have found one in Khris Middleton. The third-year swingman has scored a career-high 30 points in two of the past three games and is averaging 19 points in 11 games since the All-Star break. Point guard Michael Carter-Williams is becoming more comfortable with his new team and is averaging 13.3 points and 6.1 assists in eight games since coming over from Philadelphia.
ABOUT THE PACERS (29-34): Indiana tied a franchise record Tuesday with 17 3-pointers in a 118-86 win against the Magic with Rodney Stuckey leading the way with a career-high six triples. Stuckey poured in a season-high 34 points against Orlando and is averaging 19.6 points in nine game since the All-Star break. Stuckey leads an impressive second unit for the Pacers, who get an NBA-best 41.8 points per game from their bench.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Pacers have won seven of the past eight in the series and have not lost two home games to the Bucks in a season since 2009-10.
2. Bucks SF Giannis Antetokounmpo has recorded at least one blocked shot in a career-high 10 consecutive games.
3. Indiana has allowed 86 points or fewer and held opponents under 40 percent in each game during its six-game winning streak.