Damian Lillard makes his second appearance in the PNW as a Buck
Having reached the halfway point of their West Coast road trip, the Milwaukee Bucks will take on the Portland Trail Blazers tonight in the second game of a back-to-back. While SEGABABAs always present unique challenges (especially when they’re both road games), this is a great opportunity for Milwaukee to continue building on the momentum they’ve found in January.
Where We’re At
When looking back at the season, this stretch of about two weeks may jump out as some of the more challenging from a purely logistical standpoint. The Bucks were effectively on the road for most of last week, having traveled to New Orleans early before a (now postponed) game against the Pelicans, got snowed in, and stopped back in Milwaukee for a one-off game against the Heat. Then it was right back on the plane for this current road trip which only ends this Friday in San Antonio. They’re 1-1 so far on this trip, losing to the Clippers before finding their feet last night against the Utah Jazz in a 125-110 free-flowing affair. Head coach Doc Rivers rocked a seven man rotation with Bobby Portis and AJ Green unavailable, so you’ll want to keep an eye out for heavy legs from the regular rotation guys tonight.
The Trail Blazers recently ripped off their best stretch of play on the season, winning four straight before dropping a 118-108 tilt against the Thunder on Sunday. In what has been a campaign dedicated to internal development and maintaining a favorable draft position, standout weeks from guys like Deni Avdija (acquired via trade in the offseason) and Toumani Camara (second-year, second-round draft pick) help offset the general amount of losing going on around them. With the trade deadline around the corner, the latest bit of intrigue in Portland rests on who the front office can manage to ship out the door in about a week’s time. Still, don’t take this team lightly. They’ve already beaten Milwaukee (in Milwaukee) 105-102 earlier this month—fittingly, that was the last bad Bucks loss before they got on this current 9-2 run.
Either way, it should hopefully be a fun, competitive night for both Dame and the Blazers fanbase.
Injury Report
Because the Bucks played last night they’ve got extra time to submit their first injury report of the day. We’ll update this article once those details come out.
Update: Giannis Antetokounmpo (right patella tedinopathy) and Khris Middleton (bilateral ankle surgery injury management) are listed as probable while AJ Green (left quad strain), Bobby Portis (personal reasons) and Tyler Smith (illness) are out.
Meanwhile, Portland has DeAndre Ayton (left knee sprain) as questionable and Matisse Thybulle (right ankle sprain) as out.
Player To Watch
Of course, you should keep an eye on Damian Lillard for good reason, but I’ll put a spotlight on Andre Jackson Jr. because he is young and so hopefully a little more resistant to fatigue on a back-to-back, and also because someone will have to put some halts on the Anfernee Simons-Jerami Grant combo. He also flashed a bit more aggression going to the hoop last night which was very encouraging to see. Keeping that up and avoiding mind-neutral plays like misreading a teammate’s pass or giving away bad turnovers would help cement his place as a low-level glue guy.
How To Watch
TNT and FanDuel Sports Network WI at 9:00 p.m. CST.
Playback Streaming
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