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Pacers-Bucks Preview

Feb 6, 2010 - 4:47 AM By KATE HEDLIN STATS Writer

Indiana (17-32) at Milwaukee (21-26), 8:30 p.m. EDT

Milwaukee Bucks center Andrew Bogut gave the Indiana Pacers headaches the last time he faced them.

Now, Bogut is the one suffering from headaches.

After leaving Milwaukee's last game due to a migraine, Bogut hopes to return to face the Pacers again Saturday as the Bucks try to win their seventh straight at home.

Despite losing Michael Redd to a season-ending knee injury last month, Milwaukee (22-26) has played well recently. They've won four of five and six of nine, including a 114-107 victory at New York on Friday.

Much of the Bucks' recent success has been thanks to Bogut, who entered Friday having recorded three consecutive double-doubles and averaging 19.4 points and 9.8 rebounds in his eight previous games. However, he left the contest against the Knicks in the first quarter because of a migraine and did not return. He had six points in six minutes.

With Bogut out, Brandon Jennings took over, finishing with 22 points - 19 after halftime to help the Bucks erase a five-point deficit - and eight assists.

"We thought we had a nice rhythm going early in the game when Andrew was in there," coach Scott Skiles said. "We were able to go inside. It kind of knocked us off balance when he went out of the game, but we were able to have it at five at halftime when we weren't even playing that well. We came out, played much better in the second half."

Jennings, who shot 8 of 23, doubled his point total of 11 from his previous two games combined.

After taking two of three on their road trip, Milwaukee returns home for its next two games. The Bucks are looking to win seven straight at the Bradley Center in a single season for the first time since Dec. 6-30, 2006. They also won their first six home games of 2007-08, after winning the home finale the previous season.

It's uncertain if Milwaukee will have Bogut available Saturday, but he'd certainly help the Bucks. He scored 31 points and had a season-high 18 rebounds in a 84-81 victory at Indiana Dec. 21.

Milwaukee has also won three of its last four home meetings with Indiana, scoring more than 120 points in the last two.

The Pacers (18-32), though, are looking to win their third straight overall. They are coming off a 107-83 home victory over Detroit on Friday in which they connected on 10 3-pointers and had six players score in double figures.

Danny Granger finished with 25 points, and T.J. Ford added 11 and five assists in 23 minutes off the bench - his first action in 19 games.

Ford had been benched for 18 games by coach Jim O'Brien, who said veteran Earl Watson and rookie A.J. Price gave the team its best chance to win.

The efficient offensive game came three nights after the Pacers scored a season-high 130 points against Toronto.

"It's good, we're playing well," said Granger, who was 4 of 6 from beyond the arc Friday. "Back-to-back wins, but we have to keep plugging away. We're not completely out of this thing yet. There's always room to come back."

Granger missed Indiana's last game against Milwaukee, but he scored 61 points in two meetings last season.