The Indiana Pacers are taking on the Milwaukee Bucks in Game 4 at 7 pm on Sunday. Indiana has an opportunity to take a 3-1 series lead and put the Bucks' season on life support. The Pacers were able to survive in Game 3 thanks to Tyrese Haliburton's heroics at the end of the game.
Giannis Antetokounmpo has been out for the entire series because of a calf injury. Milwaukee has had to deal with not having their best player available. They have been relying on Damian Lillard to carry the load. He won Game 1 almost by himself after scoring 35 points in the first half.
Lillard got hurt in Game 3 when Pascal Siakam landed on the back of his foot while trying to block his shot. It was revealed that Lillard had Achilles soreness that has been playing through for the last several weeks. That injury re-aggravated it. While he came back into the game, he wasn't the same.
The Bucks will be without both Giannis and Damian Lillard against the Pacers in Game 4
Neither Giannis nor Lillard will be available for the Bucks on Sunday night. The Pacers get to take on Milwaukee without either of their best players. It will be up to Khris Middleton, who scored 42 points in Game 3, to shoulder the bulk of the offensive load.
For the Pacers, this makes things a lot easier on their defense. Now, they can load up on Middleton and force the other guys to beat them. They have the highest-scoring offense in the league. It's going to be even harder for the Bucks to keep up with the rate at which the Pacers put points up.
There is no excuse for Indiana to lose Game 4. They should be able to win this game and take a commanding 3-1 series lead as it shifts back to Milwaukee. If they are able to beat the Bucks this series, it would be the Pacers' first playoff series win since 2014 when they made the Eastern Conference Finals.