DETROIT – The Milwaukee Bucks are in Detroit for the second night of a back-to-back as they take on the Eastern Conference-leading Pistons at Little Caesars Arena on Saturday, Dec. 6.

The Bucks (10-14) upset the Pistons (18-5) at Fiserv Forum on Dec. 3 after Giannis Antetokounmpo was injured, coming back from an 18-point deficit to win.

Is Giannis playing?

No. The Bucks superstar will miss the second straight game since injuring his calf against the Pistons, and coach Doc Rivers believes Antetokounmpo might be out for closer to the four-week mark than not.

Antetokounmpo, who was not on the Bucks bench in their loss to Philadelphia on Dec. 5, will also not be in attendance at Little Caesars Arena.

“He will travel most of the time,” Rivers said after the game against the 76ers. “Our thing is, especially because this just happened, with the blood flow and all the flights and all that stuff, keep him home. After (Dec. 6), we have a four-day break. We’re going to take two days off. I think they need it through this stretch, and then we have two great days of practice, which I’m looking forward to.”

More: Did Giannis request a trade? What is real and what isn’t regarding Bucks star

Is AJ Green playing?

Guard AJ Green exited the game against the 76ers late in the second quarter of the Bucks’ 116-101 loss with an injury to his left, non-shooting, shoulder. The Bucks ruled him out at halftime with a contusion on that shoulder.

Rivers said after the game that Green will travel with the team to Detroit on Dec. 6 and will get imaging on the shoulder on the road.

Green absorbed a big hit on an illegal screen by 6-foot, 11-inch, 279-pound Philadelphia center Andre Drummond with 4 minutes, 4 seconds left in the second quarter. Green stayed in the game initially but after subbing out at the 2:13 mark, Green walked straight to the Bucks locker room.

Green finished the half 0-for-4 from behind the three-point line in 15 minutes of action. He also had two assists.

Without Giannis, Bucks struggle to score

In both instances this season when Antetokounmpo has been injured, Rivers has acknowledged that the team’s margin of error to win games is very thin. And, to date, the Bucks haven’t come out on the right side of that margin.

Heading into the game against the Pistons, the Bucks are 1-6 in games Antetokounmpo completely misses.

As for how the team can perform better without Antetokounmpo, center Myles Turner said, “Well, consistency just down the board. Role clarity is something that is very important, something that I think we’re still learning. I think that we have to continue to believe in what we’re doing.

“I know it was last year, but my team (in Indiana), we were 10-15 at the beginning of the year last year and made our way to the finals. So, it’s never a question of believe on my end. It’s just the collective buy-in and figuring out what that role clarity means.”

And it’s no surprise that one of their biggest issues is on the offensive end. In totality, the Bucks are 20 in the league in scoring at 115.2 points per game. But in the seven games Antetokounmpo has missed, they’ve averaged just 108.1 points per game.

Through the seven-game losing streak in November, the Bucks kept a positive spirit and felt they turned a competitive corner without Antetokounmpo in a three-point loss to Miami on Nov. 26. Antetokounmpo returned two days later in a nine-point loss at New York, but after a fun win over Brooklyn on Nov. 29, the team, in some respects, hit rock-bottom with a three-point loss to the last-place Wizards in Washington.

They bounced back with a big win over the Pistons, but fell behind by 26 points in the first half against Philadelphia.

“I wouldn’t say we’re pressing,” Bobby Portis Jr. said. “I would say more so just trying to play good basketball, getting the ball moving side-to-side, playing with swag, playing with energy, having fun. I think the biggest thing is just having fun. I think, when you have fun, the ball naturally comes to you, you naturally have a good spirit, you naturally do your job.

“In the NBA now, ‘do your job’ is multiple efforts, scrambling, guarding different positions, helping your teammate by making the extra pass, being a great teammate when you come off the court. All those things kind of go into winning. I think it’s on us just to have fun.”

Bucks probable starting lineup

• Guards: Ryan Rollins, Kevin Porter Jr., Gary Trent Jr.
• Forward: Jericho Sims
• Center: Myles Turner

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) – Local leaders celebrated the opening of the new Metro E Line at Minneapolis College. 

READ MORE: South Minneapolis business owners cautiously optimistic about new E-line

Metro E Line opens

What they’re saying:

The E Line runs along France, Hennepin and University Avenues, connecting Southdale, downtown Minneapolis and the University of Minnesota. 

The 13-mile route runs from Southdale to the University of Minnesota and is expected to serve 3,000 riders a day, officials say. 

The project utilized $12 million in federal funding as well as state funding with Metropolitan Council investments. 

Metro Transit emphasized better lighting conditions, more security cameras and heated bus shelters. 

‘Construction was tough’

The backstory:

For Victoria Ford, opening a bookstore for adults in Linden Hills was a fairytale, but soon “Comma, A Bookshop” will begin a new chapter, when it comes to customers getting to her business.

“Excited. It’s been a long time coming. We had the construction last year and I’m just glad to see it ready and see what happens with people riding it,” said Ford.

Last year, FOX 9 showed you how construction on the project caused road closures and detours at 50th and France and Linden Hills, with some business owners saying their bottom line was down 60%.

The 50th and France Business Association says customers are slowly coming back, and it is cautiously optimistic the new E-Line will bring more people to the area.

“It was unconscionable what happened. But we believe in forgiveness and we are excited for this line to come here and do all the things it says its going to do,” said Rebecca Sorensen, Executive Director of the 50th & France Business Association.

For Victoria Ford, opening a bookstore for adults in Linden Hills was a fairytale, but soon “Comma, A Bookshop” will begin a new chapter, when it comes to customers getting to her business.

“Excited. It’s been a long time coming. We had the construction last year and I’m just glad to see it ready and see what happens with people riding it,” said Ford.

Indianapolis Animal Care Services announced Dec. 6 that they are out of space at their 2600 South Harding Street animal shelter, urging people in a post online to adopt pets.

Adopting a pet makes room for the next animal that comes into the shelter, officials said. Same-day adoptions are an option, according to the online post, and foster-to-adopt options are also available.

“That’s the truth. We are completely out of kennel space, and animals are continuing to come in,” the post read. “The only way we can save more lives is if pets leave the building today.”

The situation is particularly dire for dogs, according to an updated post on Facebook. There were 227 dogs in the shelter and 210 kennels, putting the shelter at 108% capacity. There were 61 cats and 91 feline kennels, putting capacity at 67%. Shelter officials said they try to operate at about 80% capacity to ensure they can provide quality care and be prepared for emergencies.

The post said that short-term fostering of animals still helps make room and space needed at the shelter.

Kelly LaRoche with the shelter told IndyStar that they are over capacity, “which unfortunately has become our normal operating state.”

Indy animal shelter helped this pet find a home. And it’s not a species you’d expect

“At this point, we have no open kennels available for incoming animals,” LaRoche said. “When we say we urgently need adopters today, that is not an exaggeration. Without adoptions or fosters creating space, we have nowhere to safely house the animals still coming through our doors.”

LaRoche said they only put animals in the same kennel if they come to the shelter as a bonded pair or if they were previously living together. As long as their behaviors are calm and neither is sick, they can share one kennel.

Placing animals that don’t know each other together creates a risk of fighting and injury, according to LaRoche, as well as the possibility of spreading disease.

“We anticipate needing adopters and fosters not just today, but every day for the foreseeable future,” LaRoche said. “The pressure on space does not let up, and our intake as an open-admission municipal shelter does not stop.”

Here’s how you can help

If you have questions about adopting, you can email the shelter at adoptions@indycares.org.

You can find out more about individual animals at the shelter by checking out their posts on Facebook.

Jade Jackson is a public safety reporter for the Indianapolis Star. You can email her at Jade.Jackson@IndyStar.com and follow her on X, formerly Twitter @IAMJADEJACKSON.