INDIANAPOLIS – The fourth-seeded Indiana Pacers will host the fifth-seeded Milwaukee Bucks Saturday in the first game of their playoff series.
Game 1 is set to tip off at 1 p.m. on Saturday, April 19, at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. It will be nationally televised on ESPN.
Beyond that, the NBA has yet to announce the schedule for the rest of the first-round games.
The Pacers (50-32) dropped three of their four regular-season matchups the Bucks (48-34). Their single victory was a dramatic one, with Tyrese Haliburton’s four-point play giving them the 115-114 win on March 11.
The series is a rematch from last year, when the third-seeded Bucks had home-court advantage over the sixth-seeded Pacers.
This time, the Pacers have home-court advantage. That’s not the only thing that’s changed, however. During the 2024 series, Bucks All-Star Giannis Antetokounmpo sat out with a calf injury.
He’s healthy entering this year’s playoffs and averaged 30 points per game against the Pacers in the regular season. His supporting cast has undergone some changes and star guard Damian Lillard has been out indefinitely with a blood clot. Lillard hasn’t played a game since March 18.
This marks the fourth time the Pacers and Bucks have met in the playoffs. Indiana has won each of the previous series. Last year’s first-round series went six games before the Pacers closed out Milwaukee at home.
The Pacers will wear their City Edition uniforms during first-round home playoff games, the team announced last week.
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