NBA Player News

Robinson missed the final four games of the regular season but will suit up on Wednesday. The Heat wing won’t have a minute limit and it’s unclear whether he’ll replace Caleb Martin in the starting lineup.

After getting ejected early in Game 4, Portis was able to play the entire game on Tuesday. He was able to make up for it with his best performance of the series to help them secure the win and extend the series. He has been fantastic as a starter in place of Giannis Antetokounmpo and has a double-double in every game that he has finished this series. It’s unclear if Giannis will be back for Game 6 on Thursday, but if he isn’t, Portis will have to continue to be one of their primary scoring options.

Sheppard has played a pretty consistent role off the bench since January, and it has grown since March. Often times, teams will tighten their rotations for the playoffs, but Sheppard has still played a decent-sized role. He hasn’t done much other than hit a couple of 3-pointers, but Rick Carlisle clearly trusts him, which bodes well for his value long-term. The rookie likely wouldn’t be seeing as many minutes if Bennedict Mathurin was healthy, but it has been a great opportunity for him to prove that he belongs.

Toppin was once again a solid scoring option off the bench as he scored in double figures for the third straight game. However, his most notable moment from this game was getting into a scuffle with Patrick Beverley that resulted in a technical foul for Toppin. The Bucks had started the second quarter on a 12-2 run, and they were in complete control after the technical. Toppin will look to provide some buckets off the bench once again in Game 6 on Thursday.

Haliburton led the team in scoring, but that doesn’t mean that this was a good game for him. It was an ugly loss for a Pacers team that had complete control of this series and was looking to close it out. Haliburton was one of five players to score in double figures for Indiana, but they set a new season-low for points in the loss. They scored less than 100 points only once this season, but they have scored 94 and 92 points in their two losses this series. The offense will have to be much better in Game 6 in order to avoid having to go back to Milwaukee for Game 7.

With the Bucks playing without their top two scorers, Khris Middleton stepped up as one of the heroes of Game 5. He and Bobby Portis each scored 29 points to lead the team in scoring and force a Game 6 on Thursday. It is unclear if Damian Lillard and/or Giannis Antetokounmpo will be back, but if they aren’t, Middleton will be the primary scoring option once again. He is continuing to deal with a right ankle sprain, but he should continue to keep the Bucks in the fight.

Isaac was part of Orlando’s closing lineup for this game after Gary Harris exited with a hamstring injury. Since Harris was ruled out at the end of the third quarter, it is unclear who will start in Game 6 if he remains sidelined. However, it is a safe bet that Isaac will take on extra minutes and be part of their closing lineup once again. He is one of the most impactful defensive players in the league, and if Harris isn’t out there to guard Donovan Mitchell, they’ll need Isaac on the floor.

After being a hero in the Game 4 blowout win, Wagner wasn’t quite as effective in Game 5. However, he was still able to turn in a well-rounded stat line, which partially made up for the lack of scoring in DFS formats. Unfortunately, this type of performance isn’t going to be enough for them to win the series, and Wagner will have to get back on track in Game 6 in Orlando on Friday in order to force a Game 7 on Sunday.

It may not have resulted in a win, but Banchero was fantastic in this game. He became the third-youngest player to score at least 39 points in a playoff game, with only LeBron James and Magic Johnson in front of him. That isn’t a bad list to be on, and they’ll need him to continue to play at this level if they want to win their next two games. They’ll head back to Orlando for Game 6 on Friday, where Banchero only scored nine points in the blowout win in Game 4. He’ll look to bring some of this scoring down to Florida.

Garland got off to a scorching hot start in this game and scored 17 points in the first quarter to help the Cavs jump out to a 33-23 lead. Unfortunately, he didn’t do much scoring after that. This has been a poor series for Garland, so it was encouraging to see him get off to a strong start, and he ended up having his highest-scoring game of the series. We’ll see if he can carry any of this shooting down to Orlando for Game 5 on Friday.

After two poor performances in Orlando, Mitchell vowed to play better moving forward. He did just that, and while he didn’t have his best shooting night, he was able to lead the team in scoring and ice the game with two a pair of late free throws. They’ll have a chance to close out the series in Orlando in Game 6 on Friday, but Mitchell will have to be much better than he was in Games 3 and 4. If he doesn’t they’ll be back in Cleveland on Sunday for Game 7.