The Bucks went down to Georgia looking for a win to steal
In a week featuring the weird schedule quirk of two back-to-back series (thanks, blizzard in New Orleans!) the Bucks will begin festivities on the road tonight against the Atlanta Hawks. They’ll be carrying positive road momentum having dispatched the Mavericks over the weekend, although a sprained ankle to a new member of the rotation could throw a wrench in things.
Where We’re At
Saturday’s 132-117 win over the Dallas Mavericks felt, in a way, like a final breakthrough that the team had been building towards since the break. After eking out a win against the Wizards and dropping a close one to the Rockets, Milwaukee has now scored at least 120 in three out of their last four games. Crucially, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard are leading the way with the kind of play that will be necessary from both of them if the Bucks are to have a fighting chance in many a playoff series. Gary Trent Jr.’s second-half-of-the-season resurgence continued apace against Dallas as well; he notched 20 points, five rebounds, and two assists. Almost the entire starting lineup scored in the double-digits with Taurean Prince just shy at nine points. The only down note from the whole affair? Kyle Kuzma sprained his ankle—his availability tonight and possibly tomorrow is in question.
Meanwhile, Atlanta has had a rougher post-break patch compared to Milwaukee. Having lost four of five when they returned to play, they were able to turn it around in a 132-130 victory against the Grizzlies on the road last night. Rookie Zaccharie Risacher led the Hawks scorers with 27 points and four steals while Trae Young made up for a bad night from the floor (5-17 overall) by contributing 15 assists. Still, on the year, the team remains borderline bottom-third in both offense and defense. A testament to just how awful the Eastern Conference is that they are very comfortably a playoff (play in) team at 28-33.
These two teams last met right after the trade deadline in what was a frustrating 110-115 road loss for the Bucks. Outside a brief explosive window of three-point shooting for Milwaukee, the tempo of the game was almost entirely dictated by Atlanta. That was without Giannis Antetokounmpo and was also one of the first opportunities for the deadline acquisitions to actually suit up. Can a more stable setup this time around result in a better result?
Injury Report
The Bucks have Giannis (left calf strain) as probable, Kyle Kuzma (right ankle sprain) as doubtful, and Pat Connaughton (left calf strain) and Bobby Portis (suspension) out. Atlanta will have time today to submit a report due to back-to-back stipulations, but they were without Georges Niang (illness) and have been without Larry Nance Jr. (knee fracture), Vit Krejci (lumbar fracture), Jalen Johnson (left shoulder surgery), and Kobe Bufkin (right shoulder surgery) for awhile.
Update: Atlanta has Trae Young (right achilles tendinitis) written down as probable. Niang is not on the report and should be available. Kuzma has been upgraded to questionable.
Player To Watch
Caris LeVert was one of the Hawks’ deadline deals who did not play in the last matchup. While still beginning games off the bench, he’s quickly found himself averaging a bit over 27 minutes a night and is doing a passable job bringing his all-around game to bear with Atlanta. He hit a game-winner last night to take down Memphis/ With Doc Rivers needing to possibly shuffle the deck a little without Bobby Portis and (potentially) Kuzma, can LeVert provide wing punch as a sub?
How To Watch
FanDuel Sports Network Wisconsin at 6:30 p.m. CST.
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