Milwaukee will try to remain the hottest team in the NBA when it travels to Brooklyn on Tuesday night. The Bucks have rattled off 14 consecutive wins while Brooklyn has lost four of its last five games.
Latest injury update Milwaukee Bucks vs. Brooklyn Nets
The Bucks
The Milwaukee Bucks have been successful despite Giannis Antetokounmpo’s absence.
The Bucks are hoping Giannis Antetokounmpo can return from a minor knee injury so that they can visit the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday night and try to extend the NBA’s longest winning streak to 15 games.
Milwaukee’s record improves to 7-5 without Antetokounmpo.
Over the course of the last two games, he has seen total playing time of 15 minutes. In the six minutes before the All-Star break, Antetokounmpo left a 12-point win in Chicago with a sprained right wrist, and on Friday, he left a 29-point rout of Miami after nine minutes after tweaking his right knee in the first quarter.
On Sunday, the Milwaukee Bucks beat the visiting Phoenix Suns 104-101, holding off Giannis Antetokounmpo and winning the type of game that could come up in the playoffs.
The Bucks were able to win despite missing their star player because of strong play from Jrue Holiday and former Net Brook Lopez.
Antetokounmpo (quad) could play against the Nets on Tuesday.
After suffering a quadriceps contusion in Friday’s win over Miami, Antetokounmpo sat out Sunday’s victory over the Suns, but he is expected to make his return to action on Tuesday.
It’s possible that Milwaukee will be careful with the MVP candidate’s playing time going forward after he was forced to leave his last two games early with an injury. With Antetokounmpo likely to join the starting lineup, Bobby Portis will likely be sent back to the bench.
During the streak, Antetokounmpo is averaging 31.9 points per game. This includes a 50-point performance on January 29 against New Orleans and a 54-point performance in a comeback win against the Los Angeles Clippers on February 4. In addition, nine times during the run, he has scored at least 30 points.
The Nets
Milwaukee’s current run is the longest in the NBA this season, but the Nets’ 12-game winning streak was the longest of the season until recently.
The Nets have had to make some quick adjustments to their roster after trading away Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant, and they’re hoping those moves won’t cause them to fall too far behind in the playoff race.
Since the winning streak, Durant has suffered a knee injury, and both Deron Williams and Caris LeVert have asked to be traded. Since then, Brooklyn has gone 9-14.
- Ben Simmons – Out
Chris Milholen of SI.com reports that Ben Simmons (knee) will not play Tuesday against the Bucks.
Simmons received a PRP injection during the All-Star break, so he will miss the first three games of the second half of the season. He has had knee pain throughout the season, and the surgery and subsequent rest should help.
Former All-workload Star’s had been decreasing prior to shut down; even when healthy, he’s not likely to play a significant role for the revamped Nets.
