After dispatching the Pacers on Tuesday, the Milwaukee Bucks sit 12-18, 11th place in the East and in dire need of some positive momentum. They just might get some Friday night in Memphis (14-16). It’s hard to believe it has been so long – at the same time, it isn’t – but a victory would give the Bucks their first consecutive wins since October 30.
Back-to-back wins for first time since Halloween could go long way toward keeping Bucks afloat
The Bucks have been a bad basketball team for six weeks now. Since beating Charlotte in overtime on November 14 they are just 4-13. Giannis Antetokounmpo has missed most of the games, sidelined briefly by a groin injury and now, indefinitely, by a calf strain. Even in games he finished healthy, though, the Bucks went 1-3. They have been out of sync since the first few weeks of the season.
It doesn’t help that their two best players, Giannis and Kevin Porter Jr., have finished just two games together. That’s not going to change any time soon. Based on his own mid-December projections (four to six weeks, he said then), Antetokounmpo’s earliest estimated return would be sometime in mid-January.
Dec 11, 2025; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (34) cheers the team from the bench in the second quarter against the Boston Celtics while recovering from an injury at Fiserv Forum. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-Imagn Images
But the duo of Porter and Ryan Rollins have a chance to lead the Bucks to their first win “streak” since they beat Knicks and Warriors in late October. In an unfortunate omen, the second of those victories came in a game Giannis sat out. Rollins announced his entry into the Most Improved Player race with a career-high 32 points.
Facing the Grizzlies in the third of a five-game road set, the Bucks are 5.5-point underdogs as of early Friday afternoon. Gary Trent Jr., who left Tuesday’s game in the second quarter, is a gametime decision (ankle). The Grizzlies have their own slate of injuries, most notably Ja Morant, who is questionable with his own ailing ankle.
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