Nets at Bucks
The Milwaukee Bucks need one more win to clinch a postseason berth and would love to knock the Brooklyn Nets down in the process. The Nets will be looking to hold onto the No. 8 spot and make up some ground when they visit the Bucks on Sunday.
Milwaukee’s magic number to clinch a postseason spot is one, and it holds a two-game lead for the No. 6 spot in the Eastern Conference over Boston and Brooklyn with three games to play. “It's been a battle for us all year, but hopefully Sunday we can get a win (against the Nets) and lock up that sixth spot,” Bucks forward Jared Dudley told the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. “It's at home and we're trying to get to .500, so there are a lot of goals for us.” Brooklyn is tied with seventh-place Boston but the Celtics own the tiebreaker, leaving the Nets eighth and just one game in front of ninth-place Indiana. Brooklyn is coming off one of its most impressive performances, a 117-80 win over Washington on Friday.
TV: 3 p.m. ET, YES (Brooklyn), FSN Wisconsin (Milwaukee)
ABOUT THE NETS (37-42): Brooklyn has taken eight of its last 10 to put itself in position for a playoff spot and is riding on the shoulders of center Brook Lopez. The seven-footer is averaging 28 points and 9.3 rebounds over the last three games while getting plenty of help from point guard Deron Williams, who flirted with a triple-double in Friday’s win. “Of course we’re paying attention to what other people are doing, but we’ve just gotta focus on us winning ballgames,” Williams told reporters.
ABOUT THE BUCKS (39-40): Milwaukee snapped a two-game slide with a 99-91 win at New York on Friday as Giannis Antetokounmpo returned to the starting lineup. The 20-year-old was held out of the previous game on the decision of coach Jason Kidd after struggling in the first three games of the month. Antetokounmpo responded with 23 points on 7-of-14 shooting and nine rebounds in the win over the Knicks.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Nets G Bojan Bogdanovic is averaging 17 points over the last four games and went 6-of-6 from 3-point range on Friday.
2. Bucks G Khris Middleton is 16-of-26 from the field in the last two games, including 5-of-8 from 3-point range.
3. Milwaukee has taken two of the three meetings this season but dropped a 129-127 decision in triple-overtime at Brooklyn on Mar. 20.