Milwaukee Bucks: 3 things to watch for in series closer with Indiana Pacers

Awaiting Giannis’ response

After enduring through his worst performance of the season, all Bucks fans will be wondering what superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo will offer up in response to his stumbles Monday night.

The Heat, led by the efforts of All-Star big man Bam Adebayo, smothered Antetokounmpo into a 13-point performance on 18 shots, with 10 of those points coming inside the paint. Furthermore, the reigning MVP just logged two trips to the FT line and the overall physicality Miami sent his way bothered Antetokounmpo tremendously throughout the night.

Following the loss, Antetokounmpo was effusive of his praise towards Adebayo as he struggled to make any headway against the versatile third-year Heat big man to Matt Velazquez of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

"“It was good,” Antetokounmpo said of playing against Adebayo, who had 14 points on 5 of 16 shooting with 13 rebounds and three blocks. “A lot of energy coming from Bam. Runs the floor. Plays hard. You always respect him, respect his toughness. It was a great experience to have him on my team in the All-Star Game.”"

Indiana certainly possesses defenders like Myles Turner that can make life difficult for Antetokounmpo on his way to the basket. To that point, the Pacers have allowed the fourth-lowest opponent field goal percentage within the restricted area this season at 60 percent.

Whether Indiana will offer up a similar level of physicality to push around the Bucks as the Heat did remains to be seen, but this is a perfect stage for Antetokounmpo to bounce back as he often does following his missteps.

The Bucks’ matchup with the Indiana Pacers will tip off at 6 p.m. central time from Fiserv Forum.