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Losing five of your last seven games is never a good look for an NBA team. The Bucks did just that heading into this week’s slate of contests, dropping the last three games of their west coast road trip and a pair of games at home against the Toronto Raptors. Fortunately, a win on Friday night against the Oklahoma City Thunder and a second, largely thanks to a big second quarter against the Sacramento Kings on Sunday helped get things back on track.
In the last four losses of the losing streak, Giannis Antetokounmpo led the team in points, assists and rebounds, and clearly he cannot go it alone if the team wants to win. The Bucks have a deep bench, and have been missing a key asset with Jrue Holiday out due to COVID-19 protocols for an extended period of time. Antetokounmpo, along with the rest of the offense, has also been getting off to slow starts for the last few games. The Bucks are 14-3 when they are leading after the first quarter this season, and they did not lead after one period in any of the games on their losing streak. Allowing teams to get established offensively has been the difference maker for Milwaukee. Let’s look at the week ahead, which includes three games at home, and two nationally televised contests.
Tuesday, Feb. 23 vs. Minnesota (7 p.m., Fox Sports Wisconsin)
With the Minnesota Timberwolves playing in the Western Conference, this is Milwaukee’s only matchup with their Midwest counterparts for the first half of the season. The Timberwolves come into the week with just seven wins on the season, currently in last place in the conference. That doesn’t do much to sell the matchup with Milwaukee, until you see that the team above Minnesota in the standings are the Oklahoma City Thunder, who the Bucks just split a pair of games with in the last two weeks. There are decent pieces on Minnesota’s roster, including guards Malik Beasley and Ricky Rubio. Hopefully this will be a chance for Milwaukee to exercise the depth of their bench to get momentum back on their side.
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Thursday, Feb. 25 vs. New Orleans, (8:30 p.m., TNT)
Another national spotlight matchup with New Orleans takes place on Thursday inside Fiserv Forum, with all eyes once again on Zion Williamson vs. Giannis Antetokounmpo. The last matchup resulted in a 131-126 loss for Milwaukee at the Smoothie King Center, with Lonzo Ball racking up a season-high 27 points and seven three-pointers in that game. Brandon Ingram also went off against Milwaukee for 28 points, and Zion ended the night with 21 in a matchup against the Bucks’ bigs. The Pelicans are also struggling as of late coming into this week, losing five of their last six games. New Orleans will also be on the back half of a home and away set of games on consecutive nights, with hopefully some travel fatigue playing in the favor of the Bucks on TNT. Watch out for another high-scoring affair on Thursday night.
Sunday, Feb. 28 vs. Los Angeles Clippers (2:30 p.m., ABC)
A Western Conference powerhouse comes to Milwaukee for their only first-half meeting on Sunday, with a Sunday prime-time event pitting the Bucks vs. the Los Angeles Clippers. Much like the Lakers, the Clippers have a super-team of sorts, with forwards Kawhi Leonard and Marcus Morris, as well as guard Paul George as the main offensive weapons this year. The Clippers end the first half of the season on a five-game road trip, with Milwaukee in the middle of a slate that includes back-to-back games against the Memphis Grizzlies, and a tough matchup with the Boston Celtics right after Sunday’s game in Milwaukee. A win over the Clippers would be a big momentum shift heading into the all-star break, and hopefully the Bucks can pull out a victory on ABC.
