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Jrue Holiday vs. Warriors
With all eyes on college basketball this week, it could be easy to forget that there are just 15 games remaining in the Milwaukee Bucks’ regular season schedule. The Bucks enter the week at the top of the Eastern Conference, widening the gap between themselves and the Boston Celtics to a game and a half. While Milwaukee dropped an overtime game to the Golden State Warriors to start their current west coast road trip, the outlook is great for a team that seems to be connecting on the court. Milwaukee hasn’t lost consecutive games since January 12 and 14 in Miami, the latter of which was also their last loss by more than a 10-point deficit.
According to PlayoffStatus.com, Milwaukee enters the week with a 72% likelihood of finishing with the top playoff seed in the East. They have just a 4% chance of falling to third place in the conference, and a less than 1% chance that they’ll end the season without home court advantage in the first round. If Milwaukee holds the top seed all the way to the finish line, they’ll have home court advantage in every playoff round, and likely would have a better regular season record than whichever team comes out of the Western Conference in the finals. Considering Milwaukee has lost just six times at Fiserv Forum this year, this is the ideal situation for the Bucks as they head into the final four weeks of the season. As long as the Bucks can stay healthy and maintain the consistency they’ve shown since the back half of January, they’ll be in a good position to make a championship run once again. Here’s what the week ahead looks like.
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Monday, March 13 at Sacramento (9 p.m., Bally Sports Wisconsin)
The west coast road trip continues for the Bucks on Monday night, when they’ll face a Sacramento Kings team that has been fun to follow this season. On Saturday night, the team secured their 40th win of the season, a first for the franchise since the 2005-06 season. Once written off as a contender, the Kings come into the week in second place in the West, just five and a half games behind the Denver Nuggets. The key to Sacramento’s success has been the combination of breakout guard De’Aaron Fox and forward Domantas Sabonis. While the Kings have won eight of their last 10 games, the Bucks will look to get their second win over Sacramento this season. Last time around, Giannis scored 35 for Milwaukee as they rolled to a 126-113 victory in December.
Tuesday, March 14 at Phoenix (9 p.m., NBA TV)
The Bucks and the Phoenix Suns will forever be linked thanks to the 2021 NBA Finals, and Tuesday night will be a tough matchup in what is sure to be a loud environment at the Footprint Center. Tuesday’s game is a rematch from just two weeks prior, when Milwaukee outlasted Phoenix for their 14th consecutive win. The teams are even more intertwined since the NBA trade deadline, which saw former Marquette standout Jae Crowder leave Phoenix to ultimately end up in Milwaukee’s rotation. That same trade deadline brought Kevin Durant to Phoenix, although he missed his scheduled home debut last week after injuring his ankle during pre-game warmups. Durant is slated to miss three weeks of action, but that doesn’t mean that the Suns, who are currently fourth in the West, will be pushovers. Plan accordingly to stay up late for Tuesday’s game.
Thursday, March 16 vs. Indiana (7 p.m., Bally Sports Wisconsin)
The Bucks return to Fiserv Forum on Thursday night, when they’ll welcome the Indiana Pacers for their third of four meetings this season. While the Pacers aren’t mathematically eliminated from the playoffs just yet, the outlook is not favorable for Indiana in the home stretch of the season. Indiana is notably missing guard Tyrese Haliburton as well as center Myles Turner, both of which have a significant impact on their offense. At best, the Pacers are looking to scrap their way into the play-in tournament for places 7-10 in the conference right now, but they’ll have a tall order on Thursday, looking to sneak past the Bucks.
Sunday, March 19 vs. Toronto (7 p.m., NBA TV)
The week rounds out with a Sunday night contest that bring the Toronto Raptors to Milwaukee for their third contest of four as well. The Bucks have beaten the Raptors in both of the previous two meetings this season, including an overtime win at the beginning of 2023 that featured Giannis’ second triple-double of the season. Antetokounmpo finished with 30 points, 10 assists and an astounding 21 rebounds in that win, and while he didn’t play in the second game against Toronto, Milwaukee had an easier time with the Raptors at Fiserv Forum. Toronto will be without forward Otto Porter Jr., who underwent season-ending surgery to repair a foot injury last week.
