Milwaukee @ Golden State preview

Last Meeting ( Jan 12, 2018 ) Golden State 108, Milwaukee 94

The Golden State Warriors plan to have at least one of their All-Stars back in the lineup when they host the Milwaukee Bucks on Thursday. The Warriors were without Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green in each of the last two games and suffered rare back-to-back losses.

While Curry (knee) is expected to be out through the first round of the playoffs and Thompson is still making his way back from a broken hand, Durant, who sat out the last six games, lobbied to return to the lineup on Tuesday and is expected to play on Thursday. "We're just trying to be smart," Golden State coach Steve Kerr told reporters. "When (Durant) feels like he's ready to go, we're going to give him two extra days until the next game just to be really safe. I mean, the last thing we want is for anybody to reinjure something or have something linger, so we're going to be extra cautious with everybody." The Bucks would probably prefer to give Durant and the others an extra day of rest as they try to crawl out of the No. 8 spot in the Eastern Conference. Milwaukee dropped three of its last five games, including a 105-98 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers in the opener of the four-game road trip on Tuesday, and sits a half-game behind the seventh-place Miami Heat.

TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, TNT, NBCS Bay Area (Golden State)

ABOUT THE BUCKS (39-35): Milwaukee is five games ahead of the ninth-place Detroit Pistons in the East, but coach Joe Prunty isn't taking anything for granted. "We're not in the playoffs," Prunty told reporters after the loss to the Clippers. "We have to play better and we have to win games and then we'll get into the playoffs. I looked at the standings a day or two ago -- we weren't in. We're not in right now, right? So, we're not in. I'm worried about how we're playing. ... We've got to play better and the rest of it takes care of itself." The Bucks committed 17 turnovers at Los Angeles, with Giannis Antetokounmpo and Eric Bledsoe combining for 10.

ABOUT THE WARRIORS (54-20): Golden State still leads the NBA in scoring at an average of 114 points but failed to reach even 95 points in four of the six games Durant missed, including a 92-81 loss to the Indiana Pacers on Tuesday. Green sat out the last three games with a pelvic contusion and an illness, but he is back at practice and also could return on Thursday. The Warriors placed just three scorers in double figures during Tuesday's loss, led by shooting guard Nick Young's 12 points on 4-of-11 shooting.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Bucks C Thon Maker (groin) sat out Tuesday and is day-to-day.

2. Warriors PG Quinn Cook scored in double figures in each of the last seven games.

3. Golden State took the last four in the series, including a 108-94 win at Milwaukee on Jan. 12.

PREDICTION: Warriors 109, Bucks 103