Two of the Pacers best wins of the season have come against tonight's opponents, the Milwaukee Bucks. The teams will be intimately familiar with each other after their matchup in the IST Semifinal last week.

Both teams played divisional opponents on Monday and both teams needed a little more effort than they thought they would to come out with a win. Milwaukee went to overtime with the visiting Chicago Bulls, before triumphing by a score of 133-129. Meanwhile, the Pacers pulled away in Detroit, handing the Pistons their 20th consecutive loss. Speaking of win streaks, the Pacers are technically on a four game heater since the IST Final happened in the twilight zone.

In a very welcome sight, Bennedict Mathurin led the way on Monday, scoring 30 points and accruing eight!!! assists off the bench. Myles Turner chipped in 23 points and eight boards, while Tyrese Haliburton had more assists than points (16 and 14 respectively).

Both teams know the game plan. The Bucks will try to get stops by throwing a mix of defenses (including zones) at the Pacers. The Pacers will try like hell to keep Giannis from living at the rim – and the line. Hopefully the Pacers can get the better of the exchange for a third time.

Tyrese Homecoming

There should be a fair amount of Pacers fans in the building tonight. Tyrese is bringing 2000 from his hometown.

Injuries

I haven't seen the official report but the assumption is that Jalen Smith and Andrew Nembhard are still out.

How to Watch

Tipoff is at 8:00 PM ET.

TV: Bally Sports Indiana, NBA League Pass

Radio: 93.5/107.5 The Fan

See ya in the comments!

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