Bucks at Pacers
The Indiana Pacers are cruising right along despite All-Star guard Victor Oladipo missing the last 11 games with a knee injury and are content to work him back into shape slowly. Oladipo will remain questionable when the Pacers host the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday while searching for a fifth consecutive victory.
Indiana, which is 7-4 over its last 11 games, could soon be regaining the services of its best player with Oladipo expected to go through practice on Tuesday after participating in four-on-four drills Monday. The Pacers are doing just fine without Oladipo in part because they are sharing the ball and spreading out the points, and point guard Darren Collison took his turn playing the leader when he handed out 17 assists in Monday's 109-101 win over the Washington Wizards. The Bucks managed to earn a win without their best player as well with Giannis Antetokounmpo sitting out Monday's 108-92 triumph over Cleveland due to neck soreness. "Everybody just had to step up," point guard Eric Bledsoe told reporters of Antetokounmpo, who is day-to-day. "That's almost 30 points a game that we're missing."
TV: 7 p.m. ET, FS Wisconsin (Milwaukee), FS Indiana
ABOUT THE BUCKS (18-8): Antetokounmpo told reporters "I'm fine" on his way out of the arena on Monday after watching his teammates step up in his absence. The backcourt duo of Bledsoe and Malcolm Brogdon combined for 38 points on 16-of-27 shooting, 17 rebounds and 10 assists in the victory. "I think the way both Eric and Malcolm can put it on the floor and get to the basket and finish, and I think Khris (Middleton) and Brook (Lopez) and some of our other shooters create so much space for those guys," Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer told reporters. "Eric and Malcolm have come up big and particularly tonight, without Giannis, I think for the most part in the year they've been really good and it's a great tandem."
ABOUT THE PACERS (17-10): Center Myles Turner was at the receiving end of plenty of assists from Collison on Monday and finished with a season-high 26 points on 11-of-16 shooting, 12 rebounds and five blocks in the win. Turner, who also knocked down a pair of 3-pointers against the Wizards, recorded at least three blocks in five of the past seven games. "He's got to be in consideration for Defensive Player of the Year right now," Collison told reporters of Turner. "This is unbelievable. I haven't played with a big that protects the paint like that since (former Los Angeles Clippers teammate) DeAndre (Jordan)."
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Pacers SF Bojan Bogdanovic is averaging 21.4 points on 50.7 percent shooting over the last five games.
2. Milwaukee PG George Hill made his team debut on Monday after being acquired from the Cavaliers and scored two points in 13 minutes off the bench.
3. Antetokounmpo recorded 26 points and 15 rebounds in a 118-101 home win over Indiana on Oct. 19.