Milwaukee Bucks vs. Indiana Pacers DFS Start Em’ Sit Em’| April 22nd, 2025

The Milwaukee Bucks were dealing with a sad case of deja vu as they once again had to win a playoff game without one of their main stars. Damien Lillard couldn’t take the court for the Bucks as they squared off against the Indiana Pacers, who took Game 1 convincingly. The Bucks had to rely heavily on Giannis, while the Pacers showed off several other ballers who may not get as much screen time as other stars in the league.

That means DFS players should want to pay attention because they can find cheap scorers on this Indiana Pacers roster. Lillard will be taking the court again, however, so it’s a tougher road for Indiana as well.

Milwaukee Bucks vs. Indiana Pacers Start ‘Em

Tyrese Haliburton (DraftKings Price 8.2K, FanDuel Price 9.1K)

Haliburton didn’t have his usual performance in Game 1 (only 10 points and 12 assists). It’s fair to say that this is an anomaly and not the norm for Haliburton, though. Even with Damian Lillard back to guard him, it’s not like he is incapable of driving to the basket and getting his shot in here and there. Feeding the ball to other shooters worked in Game 1, so he might want to be more aggressive with the ball in Game 2.

Andrew Nembhard (DraftKings Price 4.7K, FanDuel Price 5.7K)

Whether he was on the court with Haliburton or filling in for him, Nembhard showed in Game 1 that he could do wonders with the ball in his hands. He can score with his drive or while shooting from range. Based on this, he might have earned himself more playtime. Nembhard only scored 17 in Game 1, so he should be looking to score 20 or more in Game 2.

Myles Turner (DraftKings Price 6.1K, FanDuel Price 7K)

A pleasant surprise for Indiana in Game 1 was watching Myles Turner knock down several three-pointers. Turner was 66% from three-point range, and Indiana found lots of ways to move him around the court (and away from Brook Lopez). If Indiana can give him open space again in Game 2, Turner should be able to eclipse his 19 points from Game 1.

Milwaukee Bucks vs. Indiana Pacers Sit Em’

Kyle Kuzma (DraftKings Price 4.9K, FanDuel Price 5.6K)

Rough is an understatement to describe Kuzma’s performance in Game 1 of this series. In 22 minutes of game time, Kuzma couldn’t pick up a single point, assist, or rebound. Of course, a player of Kuzma’s class isn’t going to have an abysmal performance twice, but it’s likely that the Pacers are well-equipped to defend Kuzma. He will certainly bounce back from this, but it’s doubtful that he will score a meaningful amount of points in Game 2.

Pascal Siakam (Draft Kings Price 6.9K, FanDuel Price 8.2)

This is an odd pick considering that Siakam played very well in Game 1. The Bucks are going to make adjustments in this game, though, and one of them might involve chasing Siakam off the three-point line. There were even instances in Game 1 where Siakam simply went at Giannis in the post and came away with points. Giannis won’t allow that to happen in two games in a row. Therefore, assuming the Bucks play tighter on Siakam, he might not be able to match his 25 points.

Ryan Rollins (DraftKings Price 4.1K, FanDuel Price 4.2K)

Filling in for Damian Lillard is a job almost nobody wants. The Bucks were still hopeful for a good performance from Rollins, who only came away with five points in Game 1. Those five points came early, too, as he became less of a factor as the game went on. There is potential with Rollins, since he has a nice shot and can drive quickly off a pick, but he would need to put in a big performance to be worthy of a DFS start.

Milwaukee Bucks vs. Indiana Pacers Lock

Giannis Antetokounmpo (Draft Kings Price 11.3K, FanDuel Price 11.9K)

If anything was clear about Game 1 of this series, it’s that Giannis is fine running the offense by himself. Without Dame Time to handle the plays, Giannis took a lot of pressure off his teammates, but simply took the ball into the post and chose one of his many moves to get the ball in the basket. Not only is a good performance from Giannis expected, but it’s necessary: While Damien Lillard will be back on the court, Giannis will probably be doing more of the same, especially if they go down in score early on.

Milwaukee Bucks vs. Indiana Pacers

Pat Connaughton (Draft Kings Price 3.2K, FanDuel Price 3.6K)

One might think that, after scoring 43 against Detroit, Connaughton earned himself more playing time. According to Game 1 of this series, though, that isn’t the case. Connaughton was only on the court for one minute. In the future, it would be nice to see him play more, but if he is only going to get a small amount of minutes, he won’t be a factor for DFS.