Milwaukee Bucks injury report: Is Giannis playing? Playoff picture, game time, odds

[ASFN Admin]

NEW ORLEANS – The Milwaukee Bucks are back in New Orleans to make up a late January game that was snowed out, and they face a diminished Pelicans team tonight at the Smoothie King Center.

The Bucks were supposed to play the Pelicans on Jan. 22, but they wound up being snowed into their hotel for days after the Crescent City received a record snowfall. The Bucks had flown into New Orleans after playing a game on Jan. 19 and didn’t get home until Jan. 23 – just hours before taking on the Miami Heat.

Milwaukee (43-34) is trying to win its fourth game in a row and remain a step ahead of the Detroit Pistons (43-35) in the race for the No. 5 spot in the Eastern Conference.

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New Orleans (21-56) has been decimated by injuries again throughout the season and have lost seven of its last 10 as the Pelicans are once again vying for a high draft pick in the lottery. Eight players are out with injury, including stars Zion Williamson, Dejounte Murray, CJ McCollum and Trey Murphy III. The team also traded Brandon Ingram at the deadline.

Is Giannis playing?​

Unfortunately for the Bucks, their best player has a new injury.

Giannis Antetokounmpo is questionable to play on the second night of a back-to-back due to pain in his left shoulder. He wore a sleeve over the shoulder against the Heat, but he’s been managing some type of pain in that arm since at least late March.

He has averaged a triple-double over his last five games.

Bucks look to keep a hold on No. 5 seed​

Milwaukee and Detroit have been going back-and-forth between the Nos. 5 and 6 seeds in the Eastern Conference for some time, with their position changing nearly game-to-game at this point.

While neither seed grants home-court advantage in any series, facing Indiana or New York may matter greatly for Milwaukee.

The Bucks are 3-1 against the fourth-seeded Indiana Pacers, with the one loss coming on a last-second, four-point play by Tyrese Haliburton. Milwaukee is 0-3 against the No. 3 New York Knicks, however, and were not very competitive in any of those games.

While Antetokounmpo has maintained he doesn’t care what seed the Bucks are, the ultimate goal is to advance – and playing the Pacers gives the Bucks a better chance at getting out of the first round for the first time since 2022.

The Bucks and Pistons finish the regular season with games against one another on April 11 and 13.

What time is the Bucks game?​

It's a little bit of a later start, as the game tips off at 7:30 p.m.

What channel is the Bucks game on?​

It will be broadcast locally on FanDuel Sports Network Wisconsin with Lisa Byington, Marques Johnson, and Melanie Ricks on the call.

Bucks injury report​

• Bobby Portis Jr., out (league suspension)
• Jericho Sims, out (right thumb surgery)
• Damian Lillard, out (right calf deep vein thrombosis)
• Giannis Antetokounmpo, questionable (left shoulder tendinopathy)
• Pat Connaughton, probable (right ankle sprain)

Bucks probable starters​

• Guards: Ryan Rollins, Gary Trent Jr.
• Forwards: Kyle Kuzma, Taurean Prince
• Center: Brook Lopez

Bucks vs. Pelicans odds, over/under​

Milwaukee is an 8.5-point favorite over New Orleans, and the over/under is 221.5 points per BetMGM.

Eastern Conference playoff bracket​

This what the playoff bracket looks like heading into Sunday’s games:

• No. 1 Cleveland vs. No. 8 Play-in winner
• No. 4 Indiana vs. No. 5 Milwaukee
• No. 2. Boston vs. No. 7 Play-in winner
• No. 3 New York vs. No. 6 Detroit

Eastern Conference playoff standings​

With just a few games to go in the regular season, this is how the Eastern Conference standings look:

• Cleveland (62-15)
• Boston (57-20)
• New York (49-28)
• Indiana (46-31)
• Milwaukee (43-34)
• Detroit (43-35)
• Orlando (38-40)
• Atlanta (36-41)
• Chicago (35-42)
• Miami (35-43)

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Bucks injury report: Is Giannis playing tonight?

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