INDIANAPOLIS – The Milwaukee Bucks try to rebound from a lackluster Game 1 performance when they take on the Indiana Pacers in Game 2 on Tuesday, April 22, at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.

Milwaukee gets a significant boost with the return of all-star point guard Damian Lillard, who has been out since March 18 after the discovery of a blood clot in his right calf. The game will be the first playoff game Lillard and Giannis Antetokounmpo have played with one another in two seasons.

They have played 116 regular-season games together over the last two seasons, but Antetokounmpo missed all of the playoffs last year with a calf injury.

This season, Antetokounmpo and Lillard led all NBA duos in scoring at 55.3 points per game. They both were named to the in-season all-tournament team in December after the Bucks won the Emirates NBA Cup.

The Bucks, down 1-0 in the series against the Pacers, need to win at least one game on the road to advance to the Eastern Conference semifinals for the first time since 2022. The Pacers have beaten the Bucks three straight times on their home court in the last two postseasons.

Last year, Indiana won Game 2 at Fiserv Forum to steal home court advantage and eventually closed out the series in six games.

Is Giannis playing?

Yes. Giannis Antetokounmpo is not on the team’s injury report for Game 2, but he is still playing with a sleeve on his left shoulder. He has been dealing with pain in the area since late March.

Is Damian Lillard playing?

Yes. Lillard said at the team’s shootaround April 22 that he is playing against the Pacers in Game 2. He has been out since March 18 after the discovery of deep vein thrombosis (blood clot) in his right calf.

More: Do the Bucks have lineup questions to answer after Game 1 loss to Pacers?

What time is the Bucks game?

Game 2 will tip off at 6 p.m.

What channel is the Bucks game on?

Game 2 will be broadcast on FanDuel Sports Network Wisconsin with Lisa Byington, Marques Johnson and Melanie Ricks. The game also will be broadcast nationally on NBA TV but will be blacked out in the Milwaukee area. Jared Greenberg, Brendan Haywood and Nabil Karim will be on the call.

Bucks injury report

• Damian Lillard, available (return to competition conditioning)
• Tyler Smith, out (left ankle sprain)

Bucks probable starting lineup

• Guards: Damian Lillard, Taurean Prince
• Forwards: Kyle Kuzma, Giannis Antetokounmpo
• Center: Brook Lopez

Bucks vs. Pacers odds, over/under

Indiana is a 4.5-point favorite over Milwaukee in Game 2, and the over/under is set at 228.5 points per BetMGM.

Bucks vs. Pacers first-round series schedule

• Game 3: Friday, April 25 at Milwaukee – 7 p.m. CT
• Game 4: Sunday, April 27 at Milwaukee – 8:30 p.m. CT
• Game 5*: Tuesday, April 29 at Indiana – TBD
• Game 6*: Friday, May 2 at Milwaukee – TBD
• Game 7*: Sunday, May 4 at Indiana – TBD* – If necessary

MILWAUKEE — Dozens of concerned parents and community members gathered at Hephatha Lutheran Church in Milwaukee to discuss the ongoing lead contamination issues affecting Milwaukee Public Schools and neighborhoods.

The newly-assigned MPS Facilities Director Mike Turza addressed the crowd, outlining the district’s remediation timeline.

“Our goal is that by the beginning of the new school year, all of those pre-1950 buildings are done,” Turza said.

Turza added that the district aims to have an additional 52 buildings addressed by the end of the calendar year.

Watch: Concerned parents, community group to team up with MPS over lead concerns

Concerned parents, community group to team up with MPS over lead concerns

MPS has spent nearly $1.8 million on remediation efforts so far. According to Turza, an exact final cost cannot yet be calculated because the severity of contamination varies at each school.

Funds for lead remediation will come from the MPS budget and not specific schools.

Schools with identified lead hazards include Trowbridge Street School of Great Lakes Studies, Golda Meir Lower Campus, Kagel, and Maryland Avenue Montessori.

Three schools—Fernwood Montessori School, LaFollette School and Starms Early Childhood Center—still remain closed due to lead hazards.

More Information: https://www.tmj4.com/news/milwaukee-county/mps-officials-share-updates-on-lead-removal-efforts-at-3-district-schools

For parents like Domininck Tompkins, the lead crisis hits close to home.

“I had lead when I was a child and then when I got older and I started having children, I personally was told that my daughter had lead because of our house,” Tompkins said.

She has two children in MPS.

Monday’s town hall focused on finding solutions rather than placing blame, with community organizations stepping up to assist the district.

Shyquetta McElroy, Executive Director of the Coalition on Lead Emergency (COLE), emphasized the importance of community involvement. She noted that MPS only received 20% of consent forms back for testing of children. That’s why her organization is calling on parents who know the impact of lead poisoning to help spread awareness and take action for their kids.

“The community plays an important role in making sure that we follow through with what MPS is going to do, I think it’s very, very vital. And the fact that they know that we’re working with MPS at COLE, and they can be a part of that work, is super important,” McElroy said.

Mike Beiermeister

McElroy revealed that COLE is forming an agreement with the district to help parents at affected schools understand the importance of lead testing. They hope to have that signed by next week.

Tompkins, who will be one of 20 parents receiving training to help others, stressed the need for awareness.

“Parents should be more aware of the circumstances and be aware to go and get their kids tested, and if they don’t know kind of like, reach out and ask more questions,” Tompkins said.

This collaborative effort between the district and community organizations aims to mitigate the ongoing lead crisis affecting Milwaukee schools.

Training will take place at the beginning of May.

MPS will host a lead screening clinic for all MPS families from 2:30 to 6:30 p.m. May 7 at North Division High School.

This story was reported by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.

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• UW-Milwaukee men’s basketball coach Bart Lundy signed a five-year contract extension through the 2029-30 season.
• Lundy has led the Panthers to three consecutive 20-win seasons and a 63-38 overall record.
• Despite losing key players to the transfer portal, Lundy and UWM aim to build on their recent success and compete for an NCAA tournament berth.

In this day and age when uncertainty reigns in college basketball with the transfer portal and Name, Image and Likeness having changed the game in so many ways, the UW-Milwaukee men’s team can now count on some long-term stability at a very important position.

Head coach.

Bart Lundy, who is the first coach since Bruce Pearl (2004-07) to lead the Panthers to three consecutive 20-win seasons, has signed a five-year contract extension that will keep him at UWM through the 2029-30 season.

It’s a pact that will pay the 53-year-old Lundy $430,000 annually, up from the $350,000 he had been making on the deal he originally signed in March 2022, and includes a number of lump-sum incentives for individual and team achievements.

“‘If we can keep him, we’re going to do it,’” is how director of athletics Amanda Braun described the thinking in pre-emptively constructing and presenting Lundy with the extension, which was finalized in closed session by the University of Wisconsin Board of Regents last week.

“In the last three years we’ve solidified a really strong foundation – and not just competitively. He makes great decisions. He brings in great young men. He’s got a stable staff that we’ve worked hard to keep together. For me, that right there is exactly what we need for our future.

“Yeah, we hoped we would perform better, finish the season differently this year, but that’s OK. It’s a couple swings here and there, and that stuff happens. But it’s not a flash in the pan. Twenty-three years as a head coach.

“He’s legit.”

The gesture meant a lot to Lundy, who has gone 63-38 (.642 winning percentage) overall and 40-20 (.667) in Horizon League play – tops over that span for any current coach in the conference – during his time on the East Side.

“It shows my commitment to being here for the long haul,” Lundy said. “And the way that I operate is, when people show loyalty, I try to be at least that loyal, if not multiplied. So, the fact that Milwaukee wants me to be their basketball coach, and they’re committed to me, that means the world to me and makes me not only energized but determined to prove them right and to do everything within my power to make this the best possible basketball program for the university.”

Lundy and the Panthers recently concluded a 22-11 campaign that was equal parts gratifying and frustrating as after being picked to win the Horizon League in the preseason, they finished tied for second in the regular-season standings at 14-6.

That was good enough to earn a first-round bye in the Horizon League tournament, but third-seeded UWM opted to play its quarterfinal home game against sixth-seeded Oakland on campus at the Klotsche Center and ultimately fell by a score of 72-64.

It was the second time in as many years the Golden Grizzlies ended the Panthers’ season; in 2024 UWM advanced to the Horizon League tournament title game in Indianapolis and led Oakland with under 3 minutes to play before running out of gas and losing, 83-76.

Coming that close to its first NCAA tournament berth since 2014 and not cashing in was immensely disappointing. Now, after taking that body blow this past season, Lundy left no doubt it has to be March Madness or bust for the program moving forward.

“That’s the next step, without a doubt. And we’re right there,” he said. “With the turnover and rosters, it becomes more difficult to say, ‘Hey, we’re building toward that,’ because you’re going to have some roster turnover, you’re going to lose some of your players, and most likely, your best players.

“But so is everyone else at our level. All 15 of the all-league guys are gone (in the transfer portal). We’ve had the same staff all three years, so we’re finding a way to have consistency there, knock on wood. And then if we can maintain pushing forward with our administration and stay right on the edge of all the things that are happening fast in college basketball, I feel great that we’ll be at the top of the Horizon League.”

Indeed, Lundy will once again need to rebuild after losing his top five scorers – three to the portal (Themus Fulks, Jamichael Stillwell and Erik Pratt) and two to completed eligibility (AJ McKee, Kentrell Pullian).

The losses of Fulks, UWM’s scoring and assists leader, and Stillwell, one of the nation’s leading rebounders who was named first team all-Horizon League and the conference’s newcomer of the year, to Central Florida for lucrative NIL deals leave especially large voids to fill.

While strides have been made in terms of resources for keeping players on campus with the Panther Future Fund, the reality is Lundy and UWM will continue to face an uphill battle to keep players they identify and develop when larger programs can offer far more money and exposure.

“I do see those challenges,” said Lundy, who also lost star BJ Freeman to Arizona State last offseason.

“I think they’re enormous challenges. We don’t have some of the things in place with revenue sharing that obviously a lot of universities are going to have. But at the same time, I’m doggedly optimistic that we have the right pieces in place to compete and that we will find a way to attack these challenges one way or another.

“It may not be as easy as some others have it, but I think our administration is on the right page. And we have good synergy with everything going on in the city, and I believe that we’ll be able to surmount any challenges at our level that we’ll face.”

Braun believes Lundy is uniquely qualified to continue navigating the madness.

“Being a head coach right now with everything you have to deal with is just incredibly difficult,” she said. “He has that foundation to build on with this craziness. He knows the decisions to make. He knows what to pay attention to, what not to pay attention to. What to deal with and tolerate and what not to, and and that goes a long way in a long season.

“These are young people you’re dealing with, and he just has a great feel that way. I trust his judgment.”

Under terms of his extension, Lundy can also increase his base salary if the team meets certain grade-point-average requirements and finishes first through third in conference play. There are also retention bonuses possible each year if the team meets GPA requirements and finishes in the top eight in the league.

If Lundy accepts another collegiate or professional basketball coaching position, there would be a buyout amount of $450,000 if he leaves between May 1, 2025 and April 30, 2026; $350,000 between May 1, 2026 and April 30, 2027; and $250,000 between May 1, 2027 and April 30, 2028.

UWM also has the right to reduce or waive a buyout at its discretion.

“The building blocks are in place,” Braun said. “We’ll just keep, one step at a time, putting the right things in place and making the best decisions we can.”