The Milwaukee Bucks will look to salvage the week by going 2-2, heading out to Detroit to take on the Pistons for the second time this week and third time this season. The Pistons won the first meeting
back in November, but it was the Bucks who won on Wednesday, 113-109.
Where We’re At
The Bucks continue to be a roller-coaster team. After getting what seemed to be a statement win on Wednesday against the Pistons, they fell flat in the final minutes of the first quarter yesterday against the Philadelphia 76ers and could never make up the ground. They fell behind by 26 points before cutting it to nine near the midpoint of the fourth quarter. Yet without Giannis and AJ Green (left shoulder contusion in the second quarter), they couldn’t get over the hump. They fell back to 10-14 and still haven’t won two games in a row since the second week of the season, when they beat the New York Knicks and Golden State Warriors. They’ve never even had a winning streak longer than that. They also have to find a way to win without Giannis, as they’re now 1-6 in games he doesn’t play and have lost the last 6 of those. We’ll see if the Bucks can repeat some magic they had on Wednesday, but they can’t fall behind by 18 points and expect to come back again.
The Pistons got a bounce-back win yesterday over the Portland Trail Blazers, 122-116, on their home floor. Cade Cunningham continued to add to his All-NBA campaign with a stellar performance of 29 points, nine assists, four rebounds, and three steals, while Ron Holland had 17 points off the bench. They were trailing by three with 2:43 to go, but eight straight points between Cunningham and Duncan Robinson were the difference to propel the Pistons to the win. The win gave them their 18th of the season, as they sit atop the Eastern Conference by 2.5 games over the Knicks.
Injury Report
This will be the second game that Giannis will miss as he nurses his right calf strain, while Taurean Prince is still out for the foreseeable future. The status of AJ Green is currently unknown after suffering a left shoulder contusion in yesterday’s game. Doc Rivers confirmed during his postgame press conference that they will take an MRI of Green’s shoulder in Detroit.
Since the Pistons will also be on SEGABABA, we don’t have their full injury report yet. Bobi Klintman and Marcus Sasser were out for yesterday’s game against the Trail Blazers, but we’ll have to wait and see if there were any new additions before tonight’s game.
Player To Watch
Jaden Ivey is slowly but surely getting back into playing shape. He scored 15 points off the bench against the Bucks on Wednesday. In 10 career games against the Bucks, Ivey is averaging 15 points per game, 4.4 rebounds per game, and 4.3 assists per game. If he gets going, he could be a major problem for the Bucks to contend with.
How To Watch
FanDuel Sports Network Wisconsin at 6:30 p.m. CST.
