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Milwaukee Bucks City Edition
While it may not be time to necessarily hit the panic button, it certainly is glowing just a little bit brighter around the Milwaukee Bucks. After losing back to back games against the Miami Heat last week, along with the surging Brooklyn Nets, the Bucks come into the week in third place in the Eastern Conference. While that would be great for most teams in the NBA, Milwaukee started the season with eight straight wins, and looked unstoppable in doing so. Fast forward to Saturday’s matinee on national television, and only of the Bucks’ big three was active to play, and Milwaukee’s lack of star power showed as the Heat pulled away in the fourth quarter to seal the game.
Saturday was Giannis Antetokounmpo’s eighth missed game of the season, with a nagging soreness in his knees that has plagued him for weeks. It would be right to wonder if the wear and tear of playing in the European championship tournament for Greece in the offseason hurt Giannis as much as it helped. While he did come into the NBA season in mid-season form, he’s a question mark at best on any given night for the Bucks. Khris Middleton has only played seven games this season, and Jrue Holiday is dealing with a right ankle sprain. Bobby Portis, Serge Ibaka and Joe Ingles, who recently rejoined the team, are all not expected to suite up on Monday with various injuries. That doesn’t leave much for Milwaukee to work with, and while they will return to Fiserv Forum to start the week, where they’ve only lost five games this season, there is plenty of cause for concern as the home stretch of the 2022-23 season looms closer. Here is what is in the immediate future for the Bucks.
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Monday, January 16 vs. Indiana (1:30 p.m., Bally Sports Wisconsin)
The Bucks start the week returning to Fiserv Forum, with a game against the Indiana Pacers as part of the league’s annual MLK Day slate of games. As mentioned before, the status of six Bucks are in question, which has to look appealing for an Indiana team that is in need of a victory after three consecutive losses. The Pacers have their own injury problems, with five players currently sidelined, including point guard Tyrese Haliburton, who had been a bright spot for the team since being acquired from Sacramento last offseason. Center Myles Turner will have to pick up the slack for Indiana against Brook Lopez in the paint, and Jrue Holiday will have to play through some pain to get the offense rolling for the Bucks.
Tuesday, January 17 vs. Toronto (6:30 p.m, TNT)
While having a few more hours to rest than a conventional set of back-to-back games, the wear and tear of the NBA season will likely impact the Bucks on Tuesday, when they’ll face a Toronto Raptors team that will come to town on a back-to-back set of games of their own. It would be expected that Giannis Antetokounmpo will likely play only one of the two consecutive games for Milwaukee, and if he elects to sit on Tuesday, will give power forward Pascal Siakam and guard O.G. Anunoby a chance to make a big impact on the game. The only meeting between these two teams this season was an overtime thriller just 13 days prior, with a triple-double performance from Giannis, including the final assist to Grayson Allen to put Toronto away. Those two weeks feel like an eternity, though, considering all that has happened to the Bucks roster in that time. It will be interesting to see what lineup takes the floor on Tuesday night for Milwaukee.
Saturday, January 21 at Cleveland (6:30 p.m, Bally Sports Wisconsin)
The Bucks should enjoy every second of three days’ rest, before heading to Cleveland for their fourth meeting with the Cavaliers this year. The home team has won each game of the season series so far, with Cleveland taking the last victory at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse on December 21. Giannis had a season-high 45 points in that contest, but Milwaukee was bested by Donovan Mitchell and Jared Allen, who were big contributors to Cleveland opening up as much as a 24 point lead on the Bucks. Milwaukee chipped away at the deficit late, but were unsuccessful in taking the first road win of this season series. Cleveland will be playing back-to-back games when the Bucks arrive in town, after what is sure to be a tough game against the Golden State Warriors on Friday. Hopefully it all works in Milwaukee’s favor, as the Bucks are 11-11 on the road so far this season.
