Middleton joins Antetokounmpo on injury report
The Milwaukee Bucks face the possibility of continuing their Eastern Conference first-round playoff series against Indiana on Friday without two of their top three players.
Khris Middleton has a sprained right ankle that kept him from practicing Thursday and puts his status in question for Game 3 in Indianapolis. The Bucks already split the first two games without two-time most valuable player Giannis Antetokounmpo, who has a left calf strain and is doubtful for Game 3.
“It’s another holdingour-breath situation,” Bucks coach Doc Rivers
said about Middleton. “Honestly, I don’t know.”
Middleton was limping in the first quarter of the Bucks’ 125-108 Game 2 loss Tuesday and briefly went into the locker room, but he returned after getting his right ankle retaped and ended up playing 36 minutes. The three-time AllStar has averaged 19 points, 7.5 rebounds and 5.0 assists in the first two games.
Antetokounmpo hasn’t played since straining his left calf in an April 9 victory over Boston, but Rivers thinks “he’s getting close.”
“He did a lot of floor stuff today, probably the most I’ve seen,” Rivers said.
The Bucks have played without their stars a lot. They’ve had their top three players — Antetokounmpo, Middleton and Damian Lillard — all available for only five of their last 35 games.
Two days after snapping a franchise-record 10-game playoff losing streak, the Pacers can take their first series lead in seven seasons. Milwaukee, meanwhile, has lost five of seven meetings with Indiana this season and hopes to avoid a second straight first-round exit.
Lillard, Milwaukee’s biggest offseason addition, has helped the Bucks by scoring 61 of his 69 points in the first halves of the first two games. The Pacers’ Pascal Siakam,
acquired in a midseason trade in part because of his postseason experience, is the first player since Wilt Chamberlain in 1967 to open the postseason with consecutive 35-point, 10-rebound games.
While Pacers point guard Tyrese Haliburton’s 21 assists and five turnovers through two games are consistent with his season averages (10.9 assists, 2.3 turnovers), he’s taken only 17 shots in the series. In his home playoff debut, the Pacers need him to help stretch the f loor as he did by making three of seven from threepoint range in Game 2.
Reid top sixth man
Minnesota’s Naz Reid was named sixth man of the year after a stellar season, averaging 13.5 points and 5.2 rebounds. But the 6-foot-9 forward was relatively quiet in the first two games with Phoenix, averaging 8.5 points on 33% shooting. If he gets going, it’ll be even tougher for the Suns to come back from down 2-0.
The Timberwolves dominated a big chunk of the first two games, defending home court with a pair of doubledigit wins. Anthony Edwards scored 33 points in Game 1 while Jaden McDaniels had a playoff-best 25 points in Game 2. Phoenix’s star trio of Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal shot just 18 of 45 from the field in Game 2 and if the group doesn’t find its rhythm soon, it’ll be a short trip to the postseason.
Suns guard Grayson Allen aggravated the sprained right ankle he suffered in the opener, forcing him to hobble off in the third quarter of Game 2. He led the NBA in three-point shooting and is vital in helping Phoenix spread the f loor. Allen said he felt “better than expected” Thursday but still is questionable.
Late games
Miami beat Boston with an unprecedented barrage of three-pointers Wednesday night to erase the homecourt advantage the Celtics worked all season to establish. Tyler Herro had 24 points and 14 assists, hitting six of Miami’s 23 threes — the most in a playoff game in franchise history — to lead the Heat to a 111-101 win that tied the series . ... Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 33 points and top-seeded Oklahoma City beat New Orleans 124-92 for a 2-0 lead.