The Milwaukee Bucks have really excelled in their first season under new head coach Mike Budenholzer. Milwaukee currently sits atop the Eastern Conference and got even better at the trade deadline when they acquired sharpshooting forward Nikola Mirotic. The acquisition of Mirotic should take some pressure off of Giannis Antetojounmpo when the pair share the floor. However, Mirotic isn't slated to make his Bucks debut until after the All-Star break as he is currently dealing with a right calf injury.

Meanwhile, the Indiana Pacers were dealt a devastating blow earlier this season when All-Star guard Victor Oladipo suffered a torn quad. Oladipo has easily been the franchise's best player since coming to the team in the deal that sent Paul George to the Oklahoma City Thunder back in 2017. Without Oladipo, this is still a veteran group that is fighting hard to stay in the thick of the playoff race and they've won their last six games.

How to watch Bucks at Pacers

  • Date: Wednesday, Feb. 13
  • Time: 7 p.m. ET
  • Location: Bankers Life Fieldhouse -- Indianapolis, Indiana
  • Streaming: fuboTV - (free trial - NBA League Pass add-on available)
  • Live stats: GameTracker
  • Odds: Bucks -4.5

Odds and analysis

Check Sportsline's NBA pick sheet for all your daily odds.

Storylines

Bucks: Milwaukee is looking to head into the All-Star break with another win under their belt. This is a group that has an abundance of talent in addition to being led by an MVP candidate in Antetokounmpo. The Bucks have won seven of their last eight games and will be looking to keep that momentum trending in an upward direction. It's really going to be interesting to see how the team spreads the floor when Mirotic returns to the court.

Pacers: Despite losing Oladipo, this is a team that is thriving. It also hasn't hurt that they were able to sign sharpshooting guard Wesley Matthews, who was bought out by the New York Knicks following Matthews heading to New York in the Kristaps Porzingis deal. Depth is certainly one of Indiana's best attributes and it's worth keeping an eye on if Matthews rebounds from a tough outing in his Pacers debut in which he connected on just two of his 10 field goal attempts.

Game prediction, pick

Both teams are almost certainly heading to the postseason. The Pacers are still playing well without Oladipo, but the Bucks will be too much in this one.