Dallas @ Milwaukee preview

Last Meeting ( Oct 11, 2019 ) Milwaukee 118, Dallas 111

The Milwaukee Bucks are two wins away from tying the longest winning streak in franchise history and don't appear to be slowing down anytime soon. The Bucks will try to pull off their 19th consecutive triumph when they host the Dallas Mavericks on Monday.

Milwaukee breezed to a 125-108 home win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday to push the streak to 18 straight, two away from the mark set by the 1970-71 squad, despite starting point guard Eric Bledsoe sitting out with a leg injury. "It's just the team, man," All-Star swingman Khris Middleton told reporters. "We've got a great team, great guys. Everybody's bought into their role. Everybody's sacrificing. That's what it's all about, being unselfish and doing what it takes to win when guys are in or guys are out." One of the few challengers to Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo for the NBA MVP this season is Mavericks guard Luka Doncic, who is unlikely to play on Monday after suffering a moderate ankle sprain in Saturday's 122-118 overtime loss to Miami. "Next man up," Dallas shooting guard Tim Hardaway Jr. told reporters. "Luka is obviously a huge, huge part of this organization, this team. To see him go down is not easy to see. Just got to figure things out. ... Hopefully, he's back soon."

TV: 8 p.m. ET, NBATV, FS Southwest (Dallas), FS Wisconsin (Milwaukee)

ABOUT THE MAVERICKS (17-8): Dallas fell behind by as much as 24 points after Doncic went down on Saturday but battled back to take the lead late before running out of gas and falling in overtime. "If you play hard and do the right things for 48 minutes, you're always going to have a chance in this league," Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle told reporters. "We've got plenty on this roster to win a game like this, even with Luka out. We've just got to do better." Hardaway led with 28 points in the loss and Dallas is sure to lean more on forward Kristaps Porzingis, who collected 22 points and 14 rebounds Saturday in his first double-double this month.

ABOUT THE BUCKS (24-3): Milwaukee's winning streak survived an injury that kept Middleton out of the lineup for seven games and Antetokounmpo sat out Wednesday's victory over New Orleans last week, and the team is confident it can sustain its high level of play with Bledsoe out the next two weeks. "We've got a deep team, it's insane," Antetokounmpo told reporters. "That's about it. (If) Bled is not playing and I'm not playing, this team could be a playoff team. It could be a 50-win team. Obviously Khris, Bled, me, all the other guys that are big parts of this team, but there are days when other guys got to get the job done. So far, we've been doing that." Donte DiVincenzo got the start in pace of Bledsoe on Friday and collected 15 points, five rebounds, four assists and three steals in 25 minutes.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Bucks SG Wesley Matthews is 2-of-9 from the floor over the last two games, including 0-of-5 from 3-point range.

2. Doncic had a string of 20 straight games with at least 20 points, five rebounds and five assists come to an end on Saturday.

3. Antetokounmpo averaged 30 points and 15.5 rebounds in a pair of wins over Dallas last season.

PREDICTION: Bucks 128, Mavericks 119