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Giannis Antetokounmpo vs. Golden State Warriors
The Milwaukee Bucks lost to the Golden State Warriors on Saturday night in San Francisco, snapping a six-game winning streak. With that said, though, the team is in a great position heading into the week. Said winning streak has bumped the Bucks up the Eastern Conference standings significantly, putting them at just two and a half games behind the conference-leading Miami heat in the second playoff position. They haven’t all been pretty, but the Bucks are finding a way to win for the most part, and that included grinding out games last week against Atlanta and a rematch with their 2021 NBA Finals opponents, the Phoenix Suns.
Saturday night’s game had all the atmosphere of an NBA Finals game, as well, with a buzzing crowd at the Chase Center in San Francisco. If all goes well, it may have been a preview of this year’s championship series, with both teams looking incredibly strong. Even though the Warriors came away with the win behind Klay Thompson’s 38-point performance, Giannis Antetokoumpo was his usual self, racking up 31 points. For every big shot from Golden State, Milwaukee was usually able to answer, with Jrue Holiday being a big factor, even though the stats may not always reflect that. Milwaukee ranks 16th in the league in points allowed, however, so relying on edging out teams like Golden State in offensive shootouts won’t be anything that the Bucks can rely on.
The matchup with the Warriors was just the first of a four-game road trip against teams in the Western Conference, with the Bucks away from Fiserv Forum all week. Here’s what is in store.
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Monday, March 14 at Utah (9 p.m., ESPN)
The Bucks will look to get back to their winning ways on Monday night, with the late game feature on ESPN against a solid Utah Jazz team. Milwaukee and Utah haven’t seen one another since Halloween night, when the Bucks lost 107-95 at Fiserv Forum. Lately, the Jazz are hit-or-miss, winning six of their last 10 games. In terms of offensive production, the Jazz may be a bit hampered on Monday night, as center Rudy Gobert and point guard Mike Conley both missed a game on Saturday with injuries. It’ll be up to Giannis and Serge Ibaka to win battles in the paint against reserve center Hassan Whiteside, and for the defense to contain guard Donovan Mitchell, who currently leads the Jazz in scoring, averaging an impressive 25.5 points per game.
Wednesday, March 16 at Sacramento (9 p.m., Bally Sports Wisconsin)
The Bucks then travel back to California on Wednesday, meeting a Sacramento Kings team that are far less of a threat following the NBA trade deadline. While the Kings added a big piece in Domantas Sabonis from the Indiana Pacers, as well as Donte DiVincenzo from the Bucks, they also got rid of Tyrese Haliburton, who was just starting to come on strong for Sacramento. The new roster has yet to fully gel, with the Kings losing nine of their last 11 games. The only wins for the Kings came against Oklahoma City and San Antonio, who are both on the outside of the Western Conference playoff picture at this point in the year. The Bucks do not have many injury concerns right now, but this could be an opportunity to give their reserves some minutes in the middle of a road trip with some tougher games further down the stretch.
Saturday, March 19 at Minnesota (4 p.m., Bally Sports Wisconsin)
Heading closer to home, the Bucks will finish their road trip with a weekend matinee versus the Minnesota Timberwolves. Led by all-star center Karl-Anthony Towns, Minnesota will be a hungry opponent, currently looking to get out of the play-in tournament for the postseason in the West. The last time these teams met, also in October, Minnesota stole a win at Fiserv Forum. That was against a Bucks team that was without Jrue Holiday, and only first learning the extent of Brook Lopez’s back injury that has sidelined him for much of the season. It was the first Timberwolves victory in Milwaukee since the 2013-14 season. In any case, it will be a win that Milwaukee will want to take back, and should make for an exciting wrap up to the Bucks’ last Western Conference away trip of the year.
