What: Charlotte Hornets (15-42) (7-21 away) at Milwaukee Bucks (37-21) (23-7 home)
When: 8:00pm Eastern
Where: Fiserv Forum; Milwaukee, WI
How to watch: Bally Sports Southeast, NBA League Pass
Outfitting: Hornets–Association (white), Bucks–Icon (green)
Game Lines: Hornets +14.5, O/U 224.5
Injuries:
Hornets: LaMelo Ball-out (ankle), Mark Williams-out (back), Davis Bertans-questionable (knee), Seth Curry-probable (hip)
Bucks: Khris Middleton-out (ankle), Giannis Antetokounmpo-probable (knee)
The Bucks were really fun after Doc Rivers advised his way into a midseason coaching job that he then complained about as they struggled to find any success under him. They’ve been less fun since the All Star break since they’re winning games now. They came out of the break with a road win over the West leading Timberwolves and followed it with a convincing road win over the 76ers. The 76ers have been bad without Joel Embiid, but the Bucks took care of business the way they were supposed to.
But they haven’t played these Charlotte Hornets yet. The Bucks’ offense has been rather hot and cold in the Doc Rivers era and now they face a Hornets team that boasts the league’s best defensive rating since the debut of their trade deadline acquisitions. Neither team’s offense has been particularly good in the last couple of weeks, so this game has the ingredients to be another ugly, low scoring affair.
The Hornets actually did a good job of containing Giannis in the first two meeting between these teams. He only scored 31 points total and dealt with foul trouble in both games. Damian Lillard led the Bucks in scoring in both games and the role players torched the Hornets from the 3-point line. Meanwhile, the Hornets failed to top 100 points in either game.
The Hornets seem to have a good idea of how to slow down Giannis. Now they need to figure out how to do that without compromising their 3-point defense. Having Grant Williams to throw at Giannis should help. On the other side, the offense will need to step up and score in triple digits, and hopefully the return of Seth Curry and maybe Davis Bertans will help with that.
