It was a jumbo lineup night for the Milwaukee Bucks as Eric Bledsoe and Malcolm Brogdon sat the game out, but they weren’t able to secure a win as the Utah Jazz took them down on the road. The Bucks may have been without their backcourt, but they were ready to take the lead in the first with a 26-23 advantage. Utah got the best of Milwaukee in the second, entering halftime up 53-46. The Bucks had steady second half quarters, but it wasn’t enough to take down the Jazz on their home court, as they prevailed 115-111. Giannis Antetokounmpo got his time to shine in just 31 minutes tonight and Eric Bledsoe and Malcolm Brogdon out for the evening. He put forth 43 points, 14 rebounds and eight assists in a measly 31 minutes. An impressive feat by the Greek Freak. For his partners, Khris Middleton had 29 points, nine boards and six assists. Brook Lopez also had 16 points on an efficient 6/8 from the field to go along with seven blocks on the defensive end. Unfortunately, beyond that, there wasn’t much help from the Bucks squad, as everyone else was in single digits scoring and the bench managed just 15 points total for the evening. On the Utah front, Donovan Mitchell hit his career high, notching 46 points to help propel the Jazz to victory. His 15/32 night from the field was impressive volume, but going 5/10 from deep helped him hit decent efficiency. Beyond him, Derrick Favors also had 23 points for the Jazz to muster a loss for the Bucks. Stat that Stood Out Milwaukee often dominates in the paint if they can’t do it from outside, but tonight, the Jazz were able to snuff out the Bucks inside looks by holding them to just 42 points within the paint while scoring 50 of their own. The Bucks being without two of their best paint finishers in Bledsoe and Brogdon certainly hurt them tonight in that regard.<doc-sep>Another game, another victory for the Milwaukee Bucks after toppling the Los Angeles Lakers. They didn’t have much time to celebrate (sorry, LA nightclub budgets) as less than 24 hours later the Bucks are in Salt Lake City for the second game in a back-to-back against the Utah Jazz. Bucks Update It nearly doesn’t matter the opponent, the location, the injury situation, or the way entire first halves of basketball go: The Milwaukee Bucks will find a way to get one over on you. That means 10 straight road wins, a 9-1 record in the last 10 against Western Conference teams, and a guaranteed playoff berth on March 2nd. Beyond the on-court action the Bucks have been involved in plenty of transaction drama over the past 24 hours. GM Jon Horst began his Friday by sealing a commitment to bring Pau Gasol to Milwaukee after agreeing to a buyout with the San Antonio Spurs. Horst closed the business day finalizing a four-year, $70 million contract extension for Eric Bledsoe. Bledsoe responded to his newly-secure future by stringing together a team-high 31 points, nine rebounds, and five assists to carry the day against LA. His ability to pace Milwaukee on both ends of the court when co-stars Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton are off punctuates his current and probable future value to a team that will need to wring every drop of production from non-Giannises. On the injury front it appears George Hill (adductor), Sterling Brown (wrist), and Donte DiVincenzo (heel) are likely to remain out. Player to Watch: Isaiah Canaan A little gallows humor-esque, yes, but still valid with this being Canaan’s probable last game before he’s cut to make room for Pau Gasol on Sunday. With the guard rotation still a bit thin due to injury we may see an extended farewell appearance from Isaiah to help soak up the minute load on the starters. Hopefully he’ll go out with a bang and add to his appearance against the Bulls to remember him by: Jazz Update Winners of six of their last nine, a defensive force to be reckoned with, and seemingly always one offensive weapon away from being a nightmare: Your Utah Jazz, ladies and gentlemen! There’s a lot to like (read: be wary of) when evaluating the Jazz’s profile. Their top-five defensive rating nabs headlines, but it gets more interesting beneath the surface. You’ve got a top-two DReb% mark (80.3, just behind Milwaukee’s 80.6), the fifth-lowest opponent eFG% (.511), a marked focus on preventing opposing takes and makes from three (10.0 3PM & 28.1 3PA v. Milwaukee’s 12.6 3PM & 35.3 3PA), and the ability to staunch opponent fast-break scoring (11.1 FBPts allowed). Grinding through the high-flying West on defensive laurels doesn’t make for easy going, but the Jazz have maintained playoff position as a six seed and sit three games behind the third seeded Thunder. On the downside for Utah they’re dealing with injuries that have forced coach Quinn Snyder to get creative with lineups. Guard Ricky Rubio is probable after dealing with hamstring tightness, but Raul Neto (also hamstring), Dante Exum (ankle sprain), and Tony Bradley (knee) are all out. Player to Watch: Rudy Gobert Donovan Mitchell draws attention thanks to his standout rookie season and an embattled second year, but the spotlight will be on Giannis Antetokounmpo v. Rudy Gobert when these teams meet. Gobert continues to impress with career-highs in scoring (15.5 PPG), rebounding (12.8 TRB), and assists (2.2 APG) even with his lowest minute average in four years. In four games since All-Star weekend he’s gone above and beyond with 19.3 points, 12.5 rebounds, and 3.5 blocks. That won’t stop Giannis from trying to repeat this, though:<doc-sep>Fresh off the biggest win of the season, the Utah Jazz return home to face the NBA’s best team in the league, the Milwaukee Bucks. The Bucks, who are coming off a big win of their own in Los Angeles against the Lakers, won the last contest against Utah in Milwaukee (114-102). That game happened at the beginning of January and was the beginning of Utah’s point guard-less stretch as they would lose Rubio four minutes into that game and rely upon Donovan Mitchell and Raul Neto at the point. Looking back at that game, it was a bit of a turning point for Utah. Although they lost that game, they began to find things that worked. Royce O’Neale was 2 for 2 from three and was a positive force off the bench. Since then he’s been a net positive in most of his minutes. Rudy Gobert dominated the paint and guarded Giannis for much of the night. Donovan Mitchell started to find his rhythm from three as he went 6 of 12 for the game. Utah actually led that game going into the 4th quarter only to fall in the fourth quarter due to fatigue with it being their last game on their four game road trip. Since that game, Utah—then only 20-21—has only lost 5 games and is now 35-26, trailing the 5th place Rockets by 1.5 games and the 4th place Portland Trail Blazers by 2.5 games. The Bucks will be facing a surging Utah Jazz team led by Donovan Mitchell who is averaging 29.8 points, 6.0 rebounds, 5.0 assists on 45/42/83 splits since All-Star break. Utah Jazz has come flying out the gate since the break and is only a 1 point 2OT loss from being 4-0 in that stretch. The Milwaukee Bucks are no slouches since that time as well. Since playing the Jazz the Bucks have only lost three times. Giannis Antetokounmpo is averaging 22.5 points, 11.3 rebounds, 5.3 assists, 0.5 steals, and 2.3 blocks since All-Star break. Eric Bledsoe fresh off a contract extension yesterday is averaging 17.2 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 6 assists since the break. This team is a buzzsaw. Luckily for Utah the Bucks are coming off a game in Los Angeles last night. Milwaukee will be on the second night of a back to back and coming to play in the high altitude mountain air. Three out of Milwaukee’s last five losses came on the second end of a back to back. This has the makings of a scheduled loss for Milwaukee, but it won’t come easy for Utah. They are facing the possible NBA Finals Eastern Conference representative, they gotta show up and play as hard as they did against Denver, if not more. Additionally, Milwaukee is feeling the effects of injuries. Giannis might be out. Malcolm Brogdon is doubtful for tonight’s game. George Hill is day to day. The Jazz may have been gifted a win from the basketball gods if—IF—they don’t play down to their competition which they have done all season long. Utah might be without Ricky Rubio again tonight so they will be short on possible help for Donovan in the backcourt. That is both a good and bad thing if you’re a Jazz fan. Donovan Mitchell has been playing out of his mind without Rubio. While the workload is brutal for Mitchell with Rubio out, he is a beast without Rubio out there. He’s undefeated when starting at point guard—coincidentally, that means Utah is undefeated when Royce O’Neale starts as well. Before the Denver game, Donovan Mitchell averaged 30.3 points on 47.5% shooting and 40.3% from three when Rubio was out. Against Denver, that trend continued as he scored 24 points on 47.4% shooting and 50% from three. He had 8 rebounds and 5 assists. Game Info When: Saturday, March 2, 2019 • 7:00 PM MT Where: Vivint Smart Home Arena • Salt Lake City, UT TV: ATTSN-RM / NBA League Pass Radio: 97.5 FM | 1280 AM The Zone Injuries: Utah Jazz: Dante Exum — Left Ankle Sprain — OUT Tony Bradley — Right Knee Surgery — OUT Ricky Rubio — Hamstring Tightness — Probable Raul Neto — Hamstring Tightness — OUT Milwaukee Bucks: Sterling Brown — Wrist — Day to Day George Hill — Groin — Day to Day Donte Divencenzo — Heel — OUT Giannis Antetokounmpo — Knee — Questionable Malcolm Brogdon — Heel — Doubtful Does Rubio start or come off the bench? If Rubio is out against the Bucks tonight—he’s listed as probable right now—the Bucks won’t get to have a free safety against Utah. That’s a scary thought as the Bucks could hide Giannis on Rubio on the defensive end. That would allow Giannis to get a breather defensively AND allow him to wreck havoc as he spies weakside on every play. Utah would employ this technique with Andrei Kirilenko back in the day, and it could be weaponized against them tonight. But there’s a way around this. Since it is Rubio’s first game back from injury, Utah could do what they did last time when Rubio was returning from injury and have him come off the bench. He would conceivably play with Joe Ingles, Royce O’Neale, Jae Crowder, and Derrick Favors that would punish the Bucks defense if they slouch off as Utah has three shooters ready to fire off a three around him versus only two—Donovan and Joe—if he starts. Rubio is better when he has spot up shooters and a good roll man with passing ability—and Favors is a damn good roll man. At this point, Snyder has to know that Rubio is a good point guard, but when placed in the backcourt with Donovan, he’s facing a similar situation as Favors paired with Gobert. Snyder can certainly scheme the hell out of his system and get it to work, but there’s an option out there that allows both Rubio and Mitchell to reach higher results if he splits them up a lot more just like he does with Favors and Gobert. Rudy Gobert guarding the point guard I know, I know.<doc-sep>MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN - JANUARY 07: Giannis Antetokounmpo #34 of the Milwaukee Bucks is defended by Rudy Gobert #27 and Kyle Korver #26 of the Utah Jazz during a game at Fiserv Forum on January 07, 2019 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images) The Utah Jazz should enter the playoffs red hot due to an unbelievably favorable 20-game stretch to close out the year. Early in the season, one of the most often mentioned themes among Utah Jazz fans was the team’s difficult schedule. With several road games and consecutive bouts against tough opponents, the Jazz floundered in 2018-19’s early stretch. However, since the turn of the calendar year, the schedule has lightened up significantly, and as a result their record has improved as well to the tune of finding themselves at nine games above .500 and solidly in sixth place in the Western Conference. But if you thought things had been smooth of late, you’re in for a nice surprise regarding what lies ahead. All the while during the tough early-season slate, there was the lingering promise that things would balance out for the Utah Jazz as they faced a much easier schedule to close out the year. Just how easy you ask? Well, following Saturday evening’s contest against the Milwaukee Bucks, the Jazz will have just 20 games remaining. Of those 20, 18 will be against teams with worse records than the Jazz, including 14 straight. Of those 18 contests, 15 are against opponents that find themselves currently outside of the playoff mix, and 11 are essentially guaranteed lottery teams. Even if all Utah did was win those 11 games against teams with little motivation to win, that would put them at 46 wins, likely enough for a low playoff seed. However, considering how well they’ve fared of late against inferior opponents (they’ve won 16 straight against teams with worse records), I expect them to do much better than that. All 18 contests remaining against teams with worse records are extremely winnable and 50 wins is definitely right within their grasp. Friendly reminder that the Jazz play the Bucks on Saturday, then they play 18 of their last 20 against teams that have a worse record than them. Jazz have won 16 straight against teams with a record worse than them. At 35-26, fifty wins almost seems likely. — Riley Gisseman (@rgiss11) March 1, 2019 Even Saturday’s bout against the daunting Milwaukee Bucks could easily turn in Utah’s favor considering that Giannis Antetokounmpo and company will be playing on the second night of a back-to-back after a late contest in Los Angeles on Friday. If Utah can steal that victory, that would leave just two games – March 11th against OKC and April 9th against Denver – versus better teams. On the bright side, both of those contests are within the friendly confines of Vivint Smart Home Arena, neither is on the back end of a back-to-back (which has been the case against these foes earlier in the year) and in the contest against the Nuggets, it’s entirely possible that they’ll be resting players at that point should their playoff seed be set in stone. In other words, even those tough games are under about as favorable of circumstances as they could be. So despite an initially tough 62 games through this Saturday, the Jazz are now staring down an extremely bright and promising light at the end of the tunnel. The contest against Milwaukee will be challenging, but after that, expect a determined Utah team to catch fire and surge their way up the standings and into the playoffs. These final 20 games should be an incredible ride where we’ll see a red hot Jazz team prove their worth. Based on what we’ve seen in recent contests, particularly in the 16 straight wins over teams with worse records, I’m optimistic about the show the Jazz have in store for us. Get ready, Jazz fans, the next month and a half of regular season action is going to be a thrilling ride.<doc-sep>
Bucks vs. Jazz Prediction The Bucks remain the best team in the NBA and flexed their muscle on Friday night in a come-from-behind win over the Lakers at Staples Center. Listed as a small dog tonight at 9:00 p.m. ET in Utah, will the Bucks prevail over the Jazz playing the second game of a back-to-back? Game Snapshot 569 Milwaukee Bucks at 570 Utah Jazz 9:00 p.m. ET, Saturday, March 2, 2019 Vivint Smart Home Arena, Salt Lake City, Utah Our NBA Live Odds page pulls spreads and totals from multiple different online sportsbooks so you can compare betting odds to ensure you’re getting the best line. Public Betting Trends According to oddsmakers from online sportsbook BetNow.eu, the Jazz are 3-point favorites to beat the Bucks. The total, meanwhile, sits at 225 points and as of this writing, 60% of the public betting tickets wagered at online sportsbooks are on the Bucks to cover the point spread. Milwaukee Bucks Fantasy Spin Giannis Antetokounmpo (knee) scored 16 points with 15 rebounds, six assists and three blocks in a 131-120 win over the Lakers on Friday. He played 33 minutes in the win, so coach Mike Budenholzer kept his word about Giannis not having restrictions after he played 24 minutes on Wednesday. Coach Bud said Giannis is feeling good and that the management in recent games isn’t expected to be like that the rest of the season, so it will be interesting to see how he handles things on Saturday vs. the Jazz. Fantasy owners should get in the habit of checking Giannis' status prior to every back-to-back. Utah Jazz Fantasy Spin Donovan Mitchell made another start at point guard during a 111-104 win over the Nuggets on Thursday, scoring 24 points with eight rebounds, five assists and four 3-pointers in 36 minutes. What a win for the Jazz on a back-to-back set in altitude. Mitchell scored six straight Jazz points in the final two minutes just when the Nuggets were making their late run. He did take a shot to his left hip and had the trainers check him out on the bench in the second half, but he returned and didn't even mention it in his post-game interview. In 2019, Mitchell is sixth in the NBA for points with the Jazz going 17-7 in that span. The Jazz look dangerous and Mitchell's slow start is a distant memory. NBA Betting Trends Milwaukee The Bucks are 13-3 against the spread in their last 16 games coming off a win of more than 10 points. Utah The Jazz are 6-1 against the number in their last seven games when their opponent scored 100 points or more in its previous game. Prediction The Bucks are playing on zero rest and on the road for a second consecutive night but it’s hard to fade them right now, especially when they’re getting four points. The Jazz are 20-10 at home this year and 16-13 against the spread in Utah, but Milwaukee is talented and deep. Even if the Bucks choose to rest some players tonight, I like them to keep the game close. They’re 15-4-2 against the number in their last 21 road games and are 10-4 against the spread in their last 14 games overall. Saturday NBA Prediction: Milwaukee Bucks +4