Milwaukee @ Washington preview

Last Meeting ( Jan 6, 2018 ) Milwaukee 110, Washington 103

The Washington Wizards have endured an up-and-down homestand and will try to end it on a good note when they host the Milwaukee Bucks in a Martin Luther King Day matinee Monday. After dropping the first two games of the five-game stay in the nation's capital, the Wizards claimed back-to-back contests, although both wins came against some of the Eastern Conference's lesser squads and they needed overtime to get past Brooklyn on Saturday.

"The whole second half was just nasty for us, period," John Wall told reporters after his team lost a 20-point halftime lead before surviving the extra session. "We have to do better. We have to do a lot better." Wall scored 17 of his 23 points after the break and matched his season high with 16 assists as Washington improved to 9-4 at home against conference opponents. One of those four defeats, however, came at the hands of the Bucks to begin the homestand, a 110-103 decision in which Giannis Antetokounmpo had 34 points and 12 rebounds to lead the visitors. Antetokounmpo was held to 22 and Milwaukee shot 31.6 percent from the field, a season low by a wide margin, in Sunday's 97-79 loss at Miami.

TV: 2 p.m. ET, FS Wisconsin (Milwaukee), NBCS Washington

ABOUT THE BUCKS (22-20): Milwaukee has struggled to find consistent production from its bench all season and Sunday offered up another rocky performance by the reserves, as six players combined for 12 points on 3-of-18 from the field. "We were playing from behind," Bucks coach Jason Kidd told the media. "We've got some guys who can't make shots right now. We've just got to keep grinding, keep getting those guys a look, and believe that they're going to make the next shot." Starter Khris Middleton can also be included in that group of struggling shooters as the 26-year-old is 5-for-28 over the last two games, including 1-for-13 from beyond the arc.

ABOUT THE WIZARDS (25-18): Wall and Bradley Beal (24 points) combined to shoot 19-for-47 from the floor in the win over the Nets, while their teammates were 27-for-46, led by Marcin Gortat (6-for-8) and Kelly Oubre Jr. (5-for-6). But it was Wall who carried the load when it mattered most in OT, when he hit a pair of jumpers and recorded three assists. "We've got an All-Star point guard. That helps, right?" coach Scott Brooks said of Wall, who is averaging 29.3 points and 12 assists over his last three games. "He made big plays, big shots down the stretch."

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Washington will play 11 of its next 14 games on the road after Monday's contest.

2. Bucks PG Malcolm Brogdon is shooting 47.9 percent for the season but has made at least 50 percent of his shots in 10 of his last 11 contests.

3. Gortat has back-to-back double-doubles for the first time since before Thanksgiving.

PREDICTION: Wizards 109, Bucks 102