Washington @ Milwaukee preview

Last Meeting ( Jan 15, 2018 ) Milwaukee 104, Washington 95

The Milwaukee Bucks dropped a heartbreak at home to the New Orleans Pelicans in overtime on Sunday and are about to embark on a stretch of schedule that puts them in direct competition with teams they are battling with for position in the Eastern Conference. The Bucks will begin that stretch when they host the Washington Wizards on Sunday.

Each of Milwaukee's next five games are against teams in the top nine in the East standings, and four of the five -- Washington, Indiana (twice) and Philadelphia -- are within 1 1/2 games of the Bucks. Milwaukee battled the Pelicans into overtime on Sunday but dropped a 123-121 decision when Jason Terry's 3-pointer was ruled to have come just after the buzzer sounded. The Wizards began their own rough stretch -- 13 straight against teams with current winning records -- by knocking off the 76ers 109-94 on Sunday. "I don't personally look at things like that because it's added pressure," Wizards forward Kelly Oubre Jr. told the Washington Post of the team's schedule. "We just got to continue to come out and play good basketball every night so we can get to where we want to get to at the end of the season."


TV: 8 p.m. ET, TNT

ABOUT THE WIZARDS (35-25): Washington is 10-3 since All-Star point guard John Wall went down with a knee injury, and the team is thriving without a true point guard in the lineup. Small forward Tomas Satoransky took Wall's place in the starting lineup while assuming a larger role as a playmaker and handed out 10 assists in Sunday's victory. The Wizards signed veteran point guard Ramon Sessions to a 10-day contract after the break but did not play him over the last two games with Satoransky and All-Star shooting guard Bradley Beal doing the bulk of the ballhandling.


ABOUT THE BUCKS (33-26): Milwaukee let a big lead slip away in the second half on Sunday, and some of the issues that cropped up in that game were addressed at practice on Monday. "Talking about the importance of staying focused regardless of what the score is," Bucks coach Joe Prunty told reporters. "We have to play a certain way, play the right way, and that's on both ends of the floor. We have to make sure we get our rotations right, defensively." Milwaukee was outscored 38-19 in the third quarter against the Pelicans and went to overtime in each of its last two games.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Wizards SF Otto Porter Jr. is shooting 57.9 percent from the field over the last four games.

2. Bucks PF Jabari Parker recorded season highs of 18 points and 24 minutes on Sunday.

3. Milwaukee earned a pair of wins at Washington in January.

PREDICTION: Wizards 122, Bucks 117