Bucks have one more chance to stop nemesis Pacers

Milwaukee has had a huge amount of trouble stopping the Pacers offense all season, giving up an average of 125 points against them. The formerly elite Bucks defense has a glaring weakness that the Pacers are perfectly set up to exploit: Perimeter defense.

When the Bucks traded for Damian Lillard, they swapped a superstar defender in Jrue Holiday for a guard who has a far more casual attitude toward stopping the ball. That's especially tough against All-Star Tyrese Haliburton, who is a challenge even for great defenders. Lillard doesn't have a chance.

That's how Indiana managed to score 122 points despite shooting just 5-for-35 from three-point range. The Pacers shot 14.3 percent on three-pointers - and 61.3 percent on twos. Bennedict Mathurin (25 points) drove on Lillard and Malik Beasley at will, as did T.J. McConnell (16 points, nine assists). Brook Lopez and Giannis Antetokounmpo are both on the All-Defensive team, but it's hard to protect the rim when the offensive player gets an unimpeded run to the basket.

Milwaukee also has a great offense - it's scoring the second-most points per game in the NBA, behind Indiana. It got its lone win over the Pacers when Antetokounmpo went for 64 points on Dec. 13 - and then caused a fracas by mistakenly thinking Indiana had stolen the game ball from him.

There's been pushing, shoving, hard fouls and mean-mugging all year. The Pacers' social media team even made fun of "Game Ball Gate" after their win on Monday.

For the first week of January, this is a big game. The Pacers want to continue their winning streak and climb higher in the standings. The Bucks want to get revenge for a number of real and perceived slights. But mostly, Milwaukee needs to prove it can stop high-scoring guards when it matters.