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The Bucks closed out last week with a pair of back-to-back games against the Cleveland Cavaliers, winning. While it came on the heels of a pair of big wins at home against the Pacers and Trail Blazers, the current winning streak also kicked off a six-game road trip. While the Bucks are 9-2 at home, they’re 6-6 on the road this season. There aren’t currently fans inside Fiserv Forum (which may change later this month), but Milwaukee clearly is playing better when travel isn’t involved. We will see how they fair with four road games this week, two of which will allow fans in attendance.
Monday, Feb. 8 at Denver (8:30 p.m., NBA TV)
To start the week, the Bucks will be headed to Denver for a nationally televised game against the Nuggets. The big story in the two teams’ first meeting of the season will be a battle of international talents in the paint, as Nikola Jokic will go up against Giannis Antetokounmpo inside. Jokic leads the Nuggets in points, rebounds, assists, and steals, making him dangerous in just about any capacity when he’s on the court. He’ll give Giannis, as well as centers Bobby Portis and Brook Lopez a busy night. Denver is also dealing with injury issues amongst their guards, so the tall Serbian standout will be a focal point of their offense.
Wednesday, Feb. 10 at Phoenix (9 p.m., ESPN)
The next stop on the Bucks’ tour of the Western conference is Phoenix, where they’ll meet a more balanced Suns team. Anchored around Devin Booker and Chris Paul, the Suns’ backcourt duo is one of the most promising in the league, and utility players like forward Dario Sacic and former Marquette star Jae Crowder fill out the Sun’s depth accordingly. Booker is just shy of the top 20 in the NBA in scoring right now, averaging just over 23 points per game this season. While he is coming to his own, Chris Paul is playing the role of mentor, and also contributing by leading the team in assists. This is Milwaukee and Phoenix’s only meeting of the first half of the season, but it should be a relatively high scoring affair.
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Friday, Feb. 12 at Utah (8 p.m., Fox Sports Wisconsin)
Milwaukee has already seen the Utah Jazz one time this season, losing 131-118 a month ago at Fiserv Forum. In that game, Utah had three players go for over 20 points, with big performances from Donovan Mitchell, Bojan Bogdonovic and Jordan Clarkson coming off of the bench. While Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton also had big games that night, the rest of the Bucks’ offense didn’t really show up that night. However, Milwaukee’s reserves have been coming up big as of late, and could be the difference in the return matchup in the middle of a long road trip.
Sunday, Feb. 14 at Oklahoma City (6 p.m., Fox Sports Wisconsin)
Before returning home to Milwaukee, the Bucks will face the Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday night. Oklahoma City starts this week playing sub-.500 basketball, with a roster that still needs a few pieces to be a strong contender. With former Buck George Hill recently undergoing surgery and Trevor Ariza’s status as questionable after sitting out Monday night’s game against the Lakers, the Thunder’s offense will remain slightly hindered heading into Sunday. This is once again the only meeting for the two teams in this half of the season, but given the Bucks’ road record, as well as the previous three games, a win isn’t as easy as it looks. Hopefully momentum continues to swing Milwaukee’s way.
