Bucks at Hornets
The Eastern Conference race is tightening to the point that 2 1/2 games separate the No. 5 team and the No. 9 team entering play on Monday night. The No. 11 team, the Charlotte Hornets, still has a shot as well and will try to take advantage of a team in front of them in the standings when they host the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday.
The Hornets sit two games behind the eighth-place Miami Heat - four games behind a cluster of teams tied for the No. 5 spot - and won four of their last five to take some momentum into the final nine games of the regular season. Charlotte will get plenty of chances to help itself over the final nine games, seven of which will be played against East opponents currently above them in the standings. Two of those games, including Tuesday, are against the Bucks, who worked their way up into a tie for the No. 5 spot with wins in 11 of 13 but failed to take advantage of a chance to move up more with a 109-94 home loss to the Chicago Bulls on Sunday. "I think it is easier because of where our confidence is," guard Malcolm Brogdon told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel of accepting the loss. "This doesn't shock our confidence. This just humbles us again and makes us realize we're just not going to go out here and beat everybody. We have to bring the same level of intensity every night."
TV: 7 p.m. ET, FSN Wisconsin (Milwaukee), FSN Southeast (Charlotte)
ABOUT THE BUCKS (37-36): Milwaukee was on the outside of the top eight two weeks ago but is playing some of its best basketball of the season despite Sunday's setback and will need to stay sharp with six of the final nine games on the road, including two trips to Boston. "We put ourselves in a great spot the last couple weeks," Brogdon said. "We want to stay in this spot and possibly put ourselves in a better position, so we've got to finish out strong." One point of concern is shooting guard Khris Middleton, who is 7-of-30 from the field over the last two games.
ABOUT THE HORNETS (33-40): Charlotte had a three-game winning streak come to an end with a 112-105 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday but bounced back by knocking off the Phoenix Suns 120-106 on Sunday. "This time of year, especially in the situation we're in, the whole idea is to win the game," Hornets coach Steve Clifford told reporters after the victory, "and we won the game. Our starters played good and we made the plays that we needed to at the end of the game. Hopefully, we need some help and people will lose and we'll come back Tuesday and try again." All-Star point guard Kemba Walker emerged from his own shooting slump over the past two games by going a combined 20-of-38 from the floor.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Bucks SF Giannis Antetokounmpo is averaging 29.3 points on 56.9 percent shooting over the last three games.
2. Hornets PF Marvin Williams went 5-of-6 from 3-point range on Sunday after going 1-of-10 in the previous three contests.
3. The teams have not seen each other since opening night, when Charlotte earned a 107-96 win at Milwaukee.