Photo via Twitter / Bucks
Despite working through numerous injury concerns, the Milwaukee Bucks start off this week on a three-game winning streak with two games remaining on their current road trip. That includes sneaking out a win against the Sacramento Kings on Saturday night, and a 47-point performance from Giannis Antetokounmpo the night before in Portland. When Giannis is out, the rest of the Bucks’ lineup seems to step up, as was the case in Sacramento. Jrue Holiday led the way in that game with 33 points for Milwaukee, and Donte DiVincenzo recorded his fourth double-double of the season with 12 points and 14 rebounds.
Things are clicking for Milwaukee right now, with the Bucks winning 11 of their last 15 games. Only one of those losses have happened on their current west coast road trip, which concludes this week only for a brief stopover at home before travelling for three more games. After that, there’s only one more multi-game road trip on Milwaukee’s schedule to close out the year. While the Bucks have a significantly better record at home than away right now, picking up road wins will be crucial, as Milwaukee is battling with the Brooklyn Nets and Philadelphia 76ers for the top playoff seed in the East. Here’s what is in store for this week:
Tuesday, April 6 at Golden State (9 p.m., TNT)
The Bucks remain in California until Tuesday night, when they’ll match up on national TV against the Golden State Warriors. Milwaukee has won their last two games against the Warriors, including a 138-99 rout on Christmas Day in their only other matchup of this season. Golden State is struggling as of late, losing six of their last seven games. On Saturday, they lost by 53 points to the Toronto Raptors in their lowest scoring game of the season. Despite this, Golden State are still in the playoff hunt, but expect Milwaukee to attempt to pour some salt in the Warriors’ wounds on TNT.
Stay on top of the news of the day
Subscribe to our free, daily e-newsletter to get Milwaukee's latest local news, restaurants, music, arts and entertainment and events delivered right to your inbox every weekday, plus a bonus Week in Review email on Saturdays.
Thursday, April 8 at Dallas (8 p.m., Bally Sports Wisconsin)
The final game of the current road trip for the Bucks is this Thursday night in Dallas. The Bucks won the previous matchup with the Mavericks 112-109 in January, on a night where Giannis Antetokounmpo went 1-10 from the free throw line. The Mavericks come into the week on a four-game winning streak, despite having six players dealing with injuries at the moment. It will also be a matchup of international superstars, with eyes being on Giannis Antetokoumpo vs. Luka Doncic in the starting lineups. Thursday’s game should be an exciting contest, with two high-powered offenses going head-to-head.
Friday, April 9 vs. Charlotte (8 p.m., Bally Sports Wisconsin)
The Bucks will make their return to Fiserv Forum on Friday night for just one game, with the back half of their season series against the Charlotte Hornets. Their first meeting in Charlotte at the end of January was a loss for Milwaukee, with LaMelo Ball recording a season-high 27 points. Giannis Antetokounmpo has a triple-double in that game, but was still dealing with free throw issues, missing eight at the line that night. Milwaukee won’t have to contend with LaMelo Ball or forward Gordon Hayward on Friday, however, as both are out with injuries that could span much of the next month for the Hornets. With two of Charlotte’s top players out, that leaves the offense in the hands of guards Terry Rozier and Devonte’ Graham in the backcourt. If Milwaukee has any difficulty with Dallas on Thursday, they should be able to recover from it the next night at home.
Sunday, April 11 at Orlando (6 p.m., Bally Sports Wisconsin)
With a travel day on Saturday, the Bucks will be back on the road again for a three-game stint, starting in Orlando against the Magic. Despite winning their first matchup of the season 121-99, it took a fourth quarter rally from Milwaukee to make up much of the deficit. Since then, however, the Magic have skidded hard, winning just three games in the month of March. Center Nikola Vucevic, who was a focal point of Orlando’s offense, was recently traded at the NBA trade deadline to Chicago, and there isn’t much looking favorable about the Magic as they wind down their season. Fortunately for Milwaukee, they’ll see Orlando once more after this game near the end of the year, and both should be highly winnable games for the Bucks.
