Photo by Emilee Chinn/Getty Images Where we find out just how much fans are done with Jae Crowder This is the first in what will be a series of articles documenting what went wrong in the Bucks first-round defeat at the hands of the Pacers, which will then move into a season-long point of view before we firmly put it all behind us. We begin with one of our SB Nation Reacts surveys, where we asked a couple overarching questions about the series, beginning with some finger-pointing: There have been vocal, but small and ultimately not representative sections of the fanbase who are tarring-and-fe ..read more

Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports Let’s start picking up the pieces In this week’s Tuesday Tracker, we posed a few questions with the Bucks about to go into Game 5 down 3-1, so these are mostly mid-series opinions. Now that the series and season are done, we’ll be back next week with some with more of a sense of finality. We’ll also look at trends over the season. Here are the highlights: 70% of fans polled think the injuries to Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard are beyond anyone’s control, but 28% put some blame on the team. 85% are pro-Khris Middleton after his huge series, and 81% of th ..read more

Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports Time to put this season firmly in the rearview The Bucks season ended meekly last night in Indianapolis with a 120-98 Game 6 loss to the Indiana Pacers, who will move on to face the New York Knicks in the second round. Damian Lillard returned for the Bucks and led all scorers with 28, but they remained without superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo, who missed an entire series a year after missing two of five games. Obi Toppin and T.J. McConnell led the Pacers off their bench with 21 and 20, respectively. Game Summary My colleague Jackson did a pretty good job of su ..read more

Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images T.J. McConnell becomes playoff killer in season-ending loss for the Bucks Despite the return of All-NBA guard Damian Lillard, it wasn’t enough as a big fourth quarter powered the Indiana Pacers past the Milwaukee Bucks to the second round, taking home a 120-98 win. Lillard was the leading scorer for the Bucks in his return, with 28 points, and shot 7-for-16 from the field. Obi Toppin and T.J. McConnell paced the Indy’s offense with a combined 41 points off the bench, while Tyrese Haliburton had 17 points, eight assists, and five rebounds. NBA.com Box Score Gam ..read more

Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports Tip-off is scheduled for 5:30 PM (Central) With their season on the line yet again versus the Indiana Pacers, the Milwaukee Bucks may be getting a crucial reinforcement back tonight in Indianapolis as they look to force a Game 7. Damian Lillard will take part in the festivities tonight: Milwaukee Bucks star Damian Lillard (Achilles) will make his return tonight for Game 6 at Indiana, league sources tell @NBAonTNT, @BleacherReport. pic.twitter.com/y9gIll1qqt — Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) May 2, 2024 Unfortunately, Giannis Antetokounmpo is officially out as he c ..read more

Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images Are the Bucks really going to pull this off? After being upgraded to questionable earlier in the day, Chris Haynes of TNT reported that Damian Lillard will return for the Milwaukee Bucks tonight for Game 6 against the Indiana Pacers. Milwaukee Bucks star Damian Lillard (Achilles) will make his return tonight for Game 6 at Indiana, league sources tell @NBAonTNT, @BleacherReport. pic.twitter.com/y9gIll1qqt — Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) May 2, 2024 Another update just came across the wire that Giannis is officially OUT: Game 6: Antetokounmpo is out, Lillard ..read more

Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images The season remains on the brink After a gutsy Game 5 victory that turned into a laugher, the Milwaukee Bucks have forced a Game 6 in their first-round series with the Indiana Pacers. They head back to Indianapolis, where they’ve yet to win this season, down 3-2 and needing to stave off elimination yet again. Once more, they’ll likely need to do it without Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard. Where We’re At A resurgent effort by multiple Buck role players paired with continued excellence by Khris Middleton (seriously, with all the doubts fans had about hi ..read more

Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images Still waiting on news of some progress With just over 24 hours to go before tomorrow evening’s pivotal Game 6 between the Bucks and Pacers, all eyes returned to the initial injury report as it was unveiled at 4:30 Central. While there was some optimism during and after the game that one or both of Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard might be nearing returns, but we’ve got more of the same news today: The Bucks have submitted their first injury report for Game 6 on Thursday. Doubtful Giannis Antetokounmpo (left soleus strain) Damian Lillard (right Achi ..read more

Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images Game 6 will be tomorrow evening in Indiana The Milwaukee Bucks needed a win and got exactly that, knocking off the Indiana Pacers with ease by a score of 115-92. In case you missed our Rapid Recap, you can check it out here. Game Summary Khris Middleton got going with some quick baskets to kick this one off, but the Pacers were right there to match him. The porous defense from Game 4 for the Bucks bled over into this one, with Indiana going off for 31 points in the opening frame. They did so by seven points from Myles Turner and six off the bench from Ben She ..read more

Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images Game 6 will be Thursday night in Indiana There was no last dance tonight. Instead, the Milwaukee Bucks trounced the Indiana Pacers, 115-92. Game 6 will be Thursday in Indianapolis. NBA.com Box Score Despite ten first quarter points from Khris Middleton, the Pacers were still able to inflict damage in the first quarter. Led by seven points from Myles Turner and six from Ben Sheppard off the bench, Indiana secured a 31-23 lead going into the second quarter. The play from Patrick Beverley ignited a run by the Bucks. His 12 first-half points came at the right tim ..read more