After having Christmas Day off for the first time in seven seasons, the Milwaukee Bucks will face the visiting Brooklyn Nets on Thursday.
Milwaukee players expressed surprise after the Bucks were not selected to play on the holiday. After all, the Bucks were the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference last season and boast one of the league’s marquee players in Giannis Antetokounmpo.
“A lot of teams play on Christmas, so it’s not like it’s two or four teams and we gotta figure out who we’re going to pick in these spots,” Bucks center Brook Lopez said. “No, they have a lot of games on Christmas. So, yeah, I do think it’s disrespectful, but I don’t make the schedule. I don’t know how that happened.”
Instead, the Bucks turn their attention to the struggling Nets, who have lost eight of their last 10.
Milwaukee won for the sixth time in its last seven games on Monday, when Khris Middleton and Lopez scored 21 points apiece in a 112-91 victory over the host Chicago Bulls.
The Bucks lost eight of their first 10 games this season, but they have returned to form in recent weeks. Their last two victories — against the Washington Wizards and Chicago — came without both Antetokounmpo (back spasms, illness) and Damian Lillard (right calf strain, illness).
“It just tells you where we are now and where we were,” Bucks coach Doc Rivers said. “I mean, early in the year, we wouldn’t have won either game. Now we’re not only winning games, we’re winning with a cushion. I thought defensively (Monday) it was maybe one of our best defensive efforts.”
Antetokounmpo and Lillard may not be available to face the Nets. With both sidelined on Monday, forward Bobby Portis stepped in to provide 19 points, 13 rebounds and six assists.
Milwaukee is seeking its second straight victory over the Nets after winning 118-113 in Brooklyn on Dec. 8. Antetokounmpo finished with 34 points, 11 rebounds, four assists and three blocks to help the Bucks rally from a 12-point deficit late in the third quarter.
Victories have been sparse of late for the injury-plagued Nets, who were outscored 52-38 in the second half of a 110-95 loss to the host Miami Heat on Monday.
Cameron Johnson and Noah Clowney scored 19 points apiece to lead Brooklyn. Johnson is averaging 22.8 points on 48.7 percent shooting over his last eight games.
“I’m just trying to contribute to the team to win,” Johnson said. “You know, that’s my job. That’s what I want to do. Nobody in here wants to lose everything. It sucks. So I’m just trying to do whatever I can do for it for our team to win”
The Nets’ Cam Thomas (strained left hamstring) and Ziaire Williams (sprained left knee) have been ruled out for Thursday’s game, while Dorian Finney-Smith (left calf contusion) is listed as questionable.
The injuries have resulted in more playing time for Clowney, a second-year forward averaging 13.3 points and 6.7 rebounds while playing multiple positions in his last three games.
“Just his versatility of yes, playing the five at times, but also playing whatever — one-through-four, or two-through-four — that just allows him to be on the court,” Nets coach Jordi Fernandez said. “He’s really helping himself, but most importantly is helping the team.”
