Bucks at Nuggets
The Milwaukee Bucks are struggling a bit of late, but nothing seems to improve a team’s outlook quite like a date with the Denver Nuggets these days. The Nuggets will try to avoid a seventh straight setback when they host the Bucks on Tuesday. Denver beat Dallas to earn a fifth straight win and improve to 18-20 on Jan. 14, but has since gone 2-19 and is in danger of posting an 0-5 mark on its five-game homestand.
The Nuggets, who went 38-3 at home while finishing third in the Western Conference in 2012-13, have lost 10 straight at home. Denver’s current overall losing streak began with an 89-81 loss at the Bucks in the first game back from the All-Star break, and the Nuggets are averaging 87.8 points in the last six games. Milwaukee dropped the first two of its four-game road trip to sub-.500 teams the Jazz and the Lakers, and has the misfortune of finishing up the west coast swing at NBA-best Golden State on Wednesday.
TV: 9 p.m. ET, FSN Wisconsin (Milwaukee), Altitude (Denver)
ABOUT THE BUCKS (32-27): Milwaukee is enduring its own offensive struggles while trying to work in Michael Carter-Williams as the new starting point guard and is averaging 85.8 points in the last five games, with the lone win in that span coming at home against lowly Philadelphia. The Bucks shot 39.2 percent from the floor and turned the ball over 23 times in an 82-75 loss at Utah on Saturday. Carter-Williams scored in double figures for the first time in three games since joining the team with 16 points on Saturday but had as many turnovers (three) as assists for the second straight game.
ABOUT THE NUGGETS (20-39): Denver is searching for the right combination of players to get the offense going and moved to a small starting lineup on Saturday with Kenneth Faried acting as the center and Danilo Gallinari in the No. 4 spot. The move was partly out of necessity due to center Jusuf Nurkic’s ankle injury, but at least Gallinari (21 points) had some success in the 99-92 loss. Faried was not as sharp and went 1-of-6 from the floor to drop to 29.2 percent shooting over his last four contests.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Nuggets G Ty Lawson, who leads the team in scoring at 16.3 points, is averaging eight points in the last four games.
2. Bucks G Jared Dudley (knee) is questionable while G O.J. Mayo (hamstring) is not expected to play.
3. Milwaukee’s win on Feb. 20 snapped Denver’s eight-game winning streak in the series.