Team looks to correct course against another sub-.500 visitor
The Milwaukee Bucks took another defeat on the chin at home to the Brooklyn Nets last time they took the floor and they’ll now be looking to set things straight as they host the Portland Trail Blazers tonight. This will be the first of two games between these teams this season after they split things 1-1 during 2023-2024—both home teams held their own. Can the group return to regularly trouncing their lessers?
Where We’re At
They almost pulled it off again. Until they didn’t. Having fallen behind by as much as 24 points in the third quarter the Milwaukee Bucks would chip and claw their way to within one of the Brooklyn Nets. Then they ran out of gas and were rewarded with a 110-113 defeat for their troubles. That marks two consecutive games where the Bucks nearly pulled off a huge comeback (they erased a 19 point Pacers lead on Tuesday), although the obvious downside is huge minute loads for the stars with mixed win/loss results—Giannis Antetokounmpo played 37 minutes and 35 minutes in his last two while Damian Lillard logged 40 minutes and 36 minutes. For about 2.5 quarters it didn’t seem like many of the Bucks were particularly interested in playing with much effort on defense. The situation was not helped by how ruthlessly Brooklyn exploited turnovers to generate scoring of their own. Thus, Milwaukee dropped their season series to the tanking-adjacent Nets, 1-3.
Meanwhile, the Portland Trail Blazers reside in a similar zone to the Nets: clearly a bad team who will have their eye on draft position as the calendar marches on, but still capable of beating upper competition any given night. They’re 3-7 over their last 10 with some serious drubbings in there, but also an exciting buzzer-beater win over the Denver Nuggets and a slight win over the Dallas Mavericks. Thursday was also their last outing, a 106-114 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on the road. Sounds like they mounted a comeback attempt of their own before coming up short with LeBron James able to pace the Lakers to a win. Frankly, their ratings stink (they’re 28th in net), the talent is suspect outside a few starters, and Chauncey Billups. An ideal Bucks opponent, right? Right?
Injury Report
It’s about the same as it was leading into the Nets game for Milwaukee with Giannis Antetokounmpo (right knee tendinopathy), Khris Middleton (bilateral ankle surgery), and AJ Green (lumbar contusion) all probable. Portland will be without Jerami Grant (face contusion) and Matisse Thybulle (right ankle sprain).
Player To Watch
I’m foolishly calling my shot here and predicting that Doc Rivers will be reinserting Gary Trent Jr. into the starting lineup for the first time since November 4th against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Ignore my cowardice in the preview table below. The diminishing Andre Jackson Jr. returns plus his stupid ejection plus the resurgence of GTJ as a spot scorer and closing lineup member in recent weeks gives me confidence that a switch could be in the offing. Call it a coachable moment for AJax or another strategic move on the chess board from Rivers; either way, at the risk of looking like a fool hours from now, GTJ is my player to watch.
How To Watch
FanDuel Sports Network Wisconsin at 7:00 PM CST.
Playback Streaming
new Playback.Embed(“playback-embed”, {
room: “brewhoop”,
style: { height: “100%”, width: “100%” },
});
Support our site! | BreakingT | ESPN+ | ESPN+ 30 For 30 | fuboTV | Disney+