The Milwaukee Bucks will host the Indiana Pacers at Fiserv Forum on Saturday evening in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference first-round series.

The Bucks finished with the third-best record in the Eastern Conference at 49-33. Even though Milwaukee looked like one of the best teams in the East for most of the campaign, there’s no question this was a tumultuous season for the franchise. The organization changed head coach midway through the season, replacing Adrian Griffin with Doc Rivers, and the team never seemed to gel completely despite having two superstars leading the way in Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard. Antetokounmpo is listed as doubtful for the series opener Sunday, but there’s a chance he could very well miss the entire series due to a calf injury. Other players will have to step up if that’s the case, as the Pacers can score with the best of them, meaning the Bucks will need to bring their “A” game if they don’t want to suffer an upset here.

Giannis Antetokounmpo (calf), Damian Lillard (groin) and AJ Green (ankle) are listed as questionable for Sunday’s game. Jaylin Galloway (ankle) is out for the rest of the season.

The Pacers finished with the sixth-best record in the Eastern Conference at 47-35, and they barely missed playing in the Play-In Tournament after winning four of their final games of the regular season. Thus, Indiana should be very confident in its chances here, especially knowing the Bucks are likely to be without Giannis Antetokounmpo. The Pacers will live and die by their offense, so players such as Tyrese Haliburton, Myles Turner and Pascal Siakam will need to be at their best to carry the Pacers here. Indiana should also be confident due to its performances throughout the season against the Bucks, as the Pacers won four of the five head-to-head meetings in 2023-24, including a game during the In-Season Tournament. The playoffs are a different animal, however, and the Bucks have more experience than the Pacers in these situations. Indiana has nothing to lose, especially on the road, but if their offense clicks, then they could be in line to pull more than a few upsets along the way.

Bennedict Mathurin (shoulder) is out for the rest of the season for the Pacers.

The head-to-head regular-season series ended 4-1 in favor of the Pacers.