Bucks at Clippers
The Milwaukee Bucks are teetering on the edge of the top eight in the Eastern Conference and can't afford to go on a losing streak. The Los Angeles Clippers, who host the Bucks on Wednesday, are more secure in the top eight of the West but are fighting for homecourt advantage in the first round and won’t make things easy on Milwaukee.
The Bucks won six straight to get back into the top eight and move to the verge of a .500 record before falling off in a 113-93 loss at the Memphis Grizzlies on Monday in the opener of a six-game road trip. "We won't make any excuses," Bucks veteran guard Jason Terry told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "We understand playing on the road is tough. It's going to be a good trip to test our will and character. Can we stay disciplined and can we impose our will on the other team? That's going to be the key for us. It will be good for us to get on to L.A. and get refocused and start another streak." The Clippers missed out on an opportunity to pull into a tie for the No. 4 spot in the West when they fell to the fourth-place Utah Jazz on Monday, dropping them two games back. Los Angeles point guard Chris Paul continued his strong play with 33 points in the setback but Blake Griffin was held to eight points by Utah's front line.
TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, ESPN, FSN Wisconsin (Milwaukee), Prime Ticket (Los Angeles)
ABOUT THE BUCKS (32-34): Milwaukee sits a half-game ahead of the Miami Heat and Chicago Bulls and was not happy about failing to match the intensity of the Grizzlies on Monday. "They did a great job at being physical with us all night," shooting guard Khris Middleton told reporters. "They made us play at their pace and they hit shots. They just tried to slow us down and play grind-it-out basketball, and that's the way they like to play. We got off to a bad start here so we've got two tough games in L.A. that we desperately need." The Bucks are just 12-18 on the road and will play 11 of its final 16 games away from home.
ABOUT THE CLIPPERS (40-27): Los Angeles played Monday as though it was a preview for a potential playoff series, and the players are feeling the sense of urgency. "This is the year that we’ve got to do something," reserve guard Austin Rivers told reporters. "We’ve had our core here long enough that we should be doing more. ... It's important to take advantage of that." Paul seems to be the only player in playoff mode at the moment and is averaging 31.5 points over the last two games on 22-of-37 shooting, including 9-of-15 from 3-point range.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Los Angeles C DeAndre Jordan hauled in seven rebounds on Monday after averaging 13.3 in the previous six games.
2. Bucks SG Tony Snell is 14-of-22 from 3-point range over the last five games.
3. Milwaukee snapped a three-game losing streak in the series with a 112-101 home win on March 3.