INDIANAPOLIS – The Indiana Pacers have a chance to close out their first-round playoff series against the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday night.
Tip time is set for 6 p.m. at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. The game airs locally on FanDuel Sports Network, with Chris Denari and Quinn Buckner on the call. Jeremiah Johnson will provide reports from courtside.
Game 5 will be a “Gold Out,” with all fans in attendance receiving a gold t-shirt emblazoned with “Yes ‘Cers,” the team’s main slogan for the 2024-2025 season. The team will wear its City Edition uniforms.
The Blue and Gold hold a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series.
The Pacers are coming off a dominant 129-103 road win in Game 4 in which eight players notched double digits. Myles Turner led the Pacers with 23 points, five rebounds and four blocks.
Tyrese Haliburton nearly pulled off a triple-double, finishing with 17 points, 15 assists and eight rebounds. The Pacers star has recorded four straight double-doubles to start the playoffs.
Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo led all scorers with 28 points. He struggled in the first half, scoring just eight points while going 3 for 10 from the field. While he scored 18 points in the third quarter, the Pacers held him under 30 points for the first time in the series.
The Bucks will be without All-Star Damian Lillard, who suffered a non-contact injury in the first quarter of Game 4. An MRI revealed he tore his left Achilles tendon and will miss the rest of the playoffs. He’ll need surgery.
Lillard missed Game 1 of the series but returned for Game 2 after recovering from a blood clot in his right leg. The injury forced him to sit out the team’s final 14 regular-season games.
The Pacers’ injury report lists Aaron Nesmith as probable with a lower back bruise and Bennedict Mathurin as questionable with an abdominal contusion. Mathurin missed Game 5.
If the Pacers win the series, they’ll take on the Cleveland Cavaliers, who finished with the best record in the Eastern Conference and swept Miami in the first round.
A loss would set up another elimination game at Milwaukee on Friday. Game 7, if necessary, would be played on Sunday.
The New York Knicks (vs. Detroit) and Boston Celtics (vs. Orlando) also have the chance to close out their playoff series on Tuesday night.