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The Wizards take on the Bucks on Wednesday night at 8:00 P.M., the first outing of a five-game road trip with just seven games left in the regular season. Washington is coming off a record-breaking 154-141 win over the Pacers on Monday night. Milwaukee will be playing in the second game of a back-to-back after defeating Brooklyn on Tuesday night.
Rui Hachimura (non-COVID illness) will not play. Anthony Gill will make his third start of the season.
GAME INFO
Fiserv Forum | 8:00 P.M. | NBCSW | 1500 AM
PROBABLE STARTERS
Wizards: G – Russell Westbrook, G – Raul Neto, G – Bradley Beal, F – Anthony Gill, C – Alex Len
Bucks: G – Jrue Holiday, G – Donte DiVincenzo, G – Pat Connaughton., F – Giannis Antetokounmpo, C – Brook Lopez
INJURY REPORT
Wizards: Deni Avdija (right ankle fracture – out), Thomas Bryant (left ACL injury – out), Rui Hachimura (non-COVID illness – out)
Bucks: Giannis Antetokounmpo (left thigh contusion – probable), Jrue Holiday (right hip soreness – probable), Khris Middleton (right knee soreness – doubtful), Toupane Axel (right oblique muscle strain – out)
STORYLINES
Wizards face five-game trip with postseason seeding at stake
With just seven games left in the regular season, each of the Wizards’ remaining contests takes on more importance than the last. With a win over Indiana in Washington’s first of eight consecutive games against Eastern Conference opponents to close out the season, the Wizards sit just 0.5 games behind the Pacers for the East’s ninth seed and two games behind the Hornets for the eighth.
“(It was) very important, especially with the position we’re in and the position (Indiana is) in,” Russell Westbrook said of Monday’s win over Indiana. “I believe that it was a must-win game for us and we all understood that.”
Wednesday’s game against the Bucks marks the first of five consecutive road games before a two-game stint in D.C. to close the regular season. On the trip, Washington will face Milwaukee, Toronto (in Tampa), Indiana and Atlanta (twice). The Bucks, Pacers and Hawks all rank above the Wizards in the tightly packed East while the Raptors are three games behind and fighting for the 10-seed. A successful road trip has the potential to catapult the Wizards to a higher seed and an easier path through the NBA’s newly implemented Play-In Tournament.
Wizards’ momentum will be tested
The matchup with Milwaukee will be a stiff test for Washington, pitting them against a Bucks team that ranks third in net rating (6.3) this season. Since April 7, the Wizards’ 13 wins are the most in the NBA. Their three losses – a one-point defeated on the back end of a road back-to-back in Dallas, a three-point overtime loss to the Spurs and a road loss at the hands of the 46-18 Suns – are nothing to lose sleep over. The 13-3 stretch includes wins over the Jazz, Pelicans, Lakers, Pacers and two over the Warriors. Washington, however, has not faced a top-four team in the East (Philadelphia, Brooklyn, Milwaukee or New York) since late March on a three-game New York trip that featured a matchup with the Nets and two with the Knicks. The Wizards went 0-3 on that trip to New York, falling to 15-28 on the season. Since then, seemingly everything about the team has changed. Westbrook has taken his play to another level; the Wizards began to lean on three-guard lineups and three-center rotations – and the defense turned into one of the best in the league. The Wizards’ matchups against the East’s elite, the last of which comes Wednesday against the Bucks, serve as possible previews of first-round playoff series and are important barometers of how the team compares against the league’s best.
Surging Bucks coming off two key wins over Nets
The Bucks enter Wednesday’s game having won three in a row and six of their last eight, including two straight wins over the Nets. Those wins over Brooklyn, which came by a combined nine points, pulled Milwaukee within 1.5 games of the Nets for the East’s two seed. Two-time reigning MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo led the way in both games for the Bucks, scoring 49 points on 21-36 (.583) shooting in the first game and totaled 36 points and 12 rebounds in the second. On Tuesday, Milwaukee also got a pair of 23-point performances from Jrue Holiday and Khris Middleton. Middleton, who is unlikely to play on Wednesday, played the entire fourth quarter, scoring 13 of those 23 points to help the Bucks turn a six-point fourth quarter deficit into an 11-point lead in less than five minutes.
The Wizards have dropped each of their two prior matchups with the Bucks this season, though the first game with Bradley Beal sidelined. In that game, Westbrook, who enters the game three triple-doubles shy of tying Oscar Robertson’s all-time record, totaled 42 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists.