The Milwaukee Bucks face some long odds as they seek to even up their first round series against the Indiana Pacers. Not only are the Bucks on the road while trailing 2-1 in the series, but Milwaukee will also be without both Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard.

Antetokounmpo is still out as he attempts to recover from a strained calf. Lillard is out due to a strained Achilles that he re-aggravated in the Bucks Game 3 loss.

Indiana now has a chance to take a commanding 3-1 series lead before things shift back to Milwaukee for Game 5 on Tuesday.

New York Knicks forward Bojan Bogdanovic is playing through ligament damage in his left wrist. Bogdanovic had an MRI, which confirmed the damage to his non-shooting hand/wrist. The veteran forward plans to continue to play for the remainder of the Knicks playoff run, and surgery could be an option in the offseason.

Through three games of the Knicks first round series against the Philadelphia 76ers, Bogdanovic has averaged 8.0 points and 4.0 rebounds in 16.7 minutes per game off New York's bench. He's shot just 7-of-24 from the floor, including just 1-of-9 on two-point shots.

The Knicks acquired Bogdanovic from the Detroit Pistons in a trade deadline deal. Bogdanovic averaged 10.4 points in 29 games off New York's bench following the trade.

Dallas Mavericks GM Nico Harrison knew his team needed to add talent at the trade deadline. But Harrison didn't want to make short-term moves. He kept a long-term vision in mind when executing trades for Daniel Gafford and P.J. Washington at the deadline.

"It wasn't really about winning right now," Harrison told ESPN. "It was just about continuing to build it. It's like every step is, how do we continue to get better? And we're not built for just right now; we're built for the next three playoff runs."

Harrison felt that Gafford and Washington would improve with the Dallas. Both players would have something to play for, as opposed to playing out the season on teams near the bottom of the standings. Gafford echoed his GM's thoughts.

"No disrespect to any other team that we were on, but it's just we went from playing for nothing to playing for something," Gafford said. "It's like we had to lock in a whole different way."

New Charlotte Hornets president of basketball operations Jeff Peterson is building out his front office staff. One person Peterson has his eyes on New York Knicks executive Brock Aller.

Aller is currently the Knicks vice president of basketball and strategic planning. Aller was one of New York president Leon Rose's first hires when he took over the team's front office.

Aller is considered one of the best in the NBA at managing the salary cap and negotiating team-friendly contracts. It's unclear if he'll leave New York, as the Knicks are expected to do what it takes to keep Aller in the fold.

What happened in four snapshots in the NBA Playoffs on Saturday, April 27, 2024.

What happened in three snapshots in the NBA Playoffs on Friday, April 26, 2024.

After returning for Game 2 of the LA Clippers first round series against the Dallas Mavericks, Kawhi Leonard also played in Game 3. However, Leonard said his right knee is still giving him some issues.

When asked about his knee, Leonard said that it "just didn't respond the way we wanted" after he returned for Game 2 of the series. Leonard said he still plans to play in Game 4.

"Yeah," Leonard said about playing on Sunday afternoon. "Right now, I'll see [how it feels] tomorrow. But I want to play."

The Clippers lost Game 3 in Dallas. That gave the Mavericks a 2-1 series lead. Game 4 is Sunday at 3:30 PM ET.

Juwan Howard will be an assistant coach with the Brooklyn Nets next season, sources told Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.

Howard was most recently fired by Michigan after five seasons with the program.

Howard joins Steve Hetzel on Jordi Fernandez's staff. 

Los Angeles Lakers big man Christian Wood is available to play in Game 4. Wood hasn't played since February 14, due to a knee injury.

Los Angeles had hoped he might be available for Game 3, but Wood wasn't quite ready to return. The Lakers are down 3-0 against the Denver Nuggets entering Game 4 of the first round.

In his first season with Los Angeles, Wood averaged 6.9 points and 5.1 rebounds in 17.4 minutes per game. Wood mostly came off the bench, starting in just one of his 50 appearances for the Lakers.

Damian Lillard aggravated an Achilles injury in the fourth quarter of the Milwaukee Bucks' overtime loss to the Indiana Pacers in Game 3.

Lillard, who finished with 28 points, did not take a shot in overtime.

"I just wanted to be on the floor in case opportunity came up or however I could help," said Lillard.

Lillard added that his Achilles had been sore since the Bucks' regular season finale.

With the Bucks down 2-1 in the series, Game 4 is on Sunday.

"We're gonna get back and just have to get ahead of it because that's not something that you want to play with ... we have a couple of days to start and try to get ahead of it. Get it feeling better and get ready for Sunday," said Lillard.