Bucks at Nuggets
THE STORY: The Milwaukee Bucks open a five-game road trip when they visit the Denver Nuggets on Monday. The Bucks will have two back-to-backs during the travel-packed trip that concludes in Phoenix on Sunday. The Bucks lost their season opener on the road at Charlotte before rebounding with back-to-back home wins against Minnesota and Washington. “I think that’s one of our biggest challenges is being on the road for eight days together,” guard Brandon Jennings said, “and also this is a chance to see how good we really are.” Milwaukee never won more three straight last season. Denver scored the game’s final 11 points while recording a 99-90 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday. The Nuggets harassed Kobe Bryant into a 6-for-28 shooting night. “He looked tired,” said guard Ty Lawson, who had 17 points and 10 assists. “I’m glad we were putting pressure on him and making him take tough shots.” Denver had lost to the Lakers in Los Angeles on Saturday and is playing for the third consecutive night.
TV: 9 p.m. ET, FS Wisconsin (Milwaukee), Altitude (Denver)
ABOUT THE BUCKS (2-1): Jennings has been fantastic with three consecutive 20-point outings. The third-year guard had 24 points against Minnesota on Dec. 27 and 22 in each of Milwaukee’s other two games. Jennings had three straight 20-point outings on only two occasions last season when inconsistency and a foot injury disrupted his flow. He had one such streak as a rookie. The Bucks want to play faster this season and certainly have a crisper offensive flow when Jennings is shooting and passing well. He is averaging 22.7 points and 5.3 assists.
ABOUT THE NUGGETS (3-2): Forward Danilo Gallinari had his best outing of the season when he scored 20 points and had five steals against the Lakers on Sunday. Gallinari shot only 34.1 percent over the first four games and suffered the indignity of missing a game-tying layup with two seconds left when Denver trailed the Lakers by two points in what turned out to be a 92-89 loss. Gallinari hasn’t found his touch from 3-point range yet, making 3-of-23 from behind the arc while averaging 14.0 points.
BUZZER BEATERS:
1. Denver is 32-8 at home against Milwaukee.
2. Bucks forward Luc Richard Mbah a Moute (knee) hopes to make his season debut against Denver.
3. Nuggets forward Nene averaged 17 points and made 80 percent of his field-goal attempts as Denver won both meetings against the Bucks last season.