Pacers at Bucks
The Milwaukee Bucks are in the midst of their first two-game losing streak of the season and they look to snap it when they host the Indiana Pacers on Thursday. Milwaukee blew double-digit, fourth-quarter leads against the Utah Jazz and Phoenix Suns but still possesses the best record in the NBA.
All-Star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo was stunned at losing to the Suns again - "it's kind of hard to think we lost to Phoenix twice," he told reporters of the struggling Suns - and now the Bucks are focused on bouncing back. "We've been through it," point guard Eric Bledsoe told reporters. "You can't win every game. It's basketball at the end of the day. We got to move on and go to the next one." Indiana ended a mini-funk of three losses in four games with a solid 105-96 home win over the Chicago Bulls on Tuesday. "Every game since the All-Star break has been close and I just think it's going to help us out during the playoffs," veteran point guard Darren Collison told reporters. "We've got to figure out a way to execute because in the playoffs, it's going to be (close) like that."
TV: 8 p.m. ET, TNT; FS Wisconsin (Milwaukee)
ABOUT THE PACERS (42-23): Small forward Bojan Bogdanovich has stepped up as a scorer since the season-ending injury to star guard Victor Oladipo, recording at least 22 points in each of the past five games. Bogdanovich, who scored 27 points against Chicago, has 13 20-point efforts since Oladipo was injured in late January and is averaging 22.1 points during the stretch. Center Myles Turner had 10 points, 11 rebounds and a career-best seven blocks against the Bulls and his 166 rejections lead the NBA.
ABOUT THE BUCKS (48-16): Milwaukee received a lot of poor shooting efforts against the Suns on Monday as All-Star forward Khris Middleton (six points 1-of-13), backup forward Nikola Mirotic (13, 3-of-14), center Brook Lopez (10, 3-of-11) and point guard Eric Bledsoe (15, 5-of-15) were a combined 12-of-53 from the field. "Definitely it's not going to happen often," Antetokounmpo told reporters. "Those guys have been consistent all year and there's going to be always nights like that. We've got to pick them up as a team. They're going to bounce back in the Indiana game and everything's going to be fine." Antetokounmpo had 21 points and 13 rebounds against the Suns for his 45th double-double of the season.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Bucks are 2-1 against the Pacers this season, including a 118-101 home win Oct. 19.
2. Middleton was 9-of-37 shooting in the consecutive losses.
3. Indiana backup PF Domantas Sabonis (ankle) is expected to miss his fifth straight game.