Bucks Look To Bounce Back In Salt Lake City After Snapping Their Win Streak Against The Struggling Jazz

The Utah Jazz, who are struggling at the bottom of the Western Conference, will face another tough team when the Milwaukee Bucks visit Salt Lake City on Monday night.

As of Saturday, both the Bucks and Memphis Grizzlies had each won five straight games. However, the Grizzlies extended their streak to six games with a 125-103 victory over the Jazz.

This loss marked Utah’s fifth straight and their eighth loss in the last nine games, leaving them with a 13-3 record over their last 16 games.

Milwaukee is coming off a 127-117 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers on the road, but they have still won eight of their last 10 games.

Giannis Antetokounmpo, a strong MVP candidate, and Damian Lillard, a regular All-Star, continue to lead the Bucks.

Antetokounmpo scored 36 points against the Clippers, while Lillard recorded his fifth career triple-double, finishing with 29 points, 10 assists, and 10 rebounds.

This game is the second of a four-game road trip for the Bucks, with upcoming games at Portland on Tuesday and San Antonio on Friday. They will return home to play Memphis on February 2.

“When you’re on a road trip, you gotta get the first one,” said Antetokounmpo. “You gotta feel good, you gotta get the first one and everything else falls in place. We wasn’t able to get the first one.

Now we have a tough one coming up against Utah. It’s a hard place to play. It doesn’t matter if they’re the best team in the NBA or the worst team in the NBA. It’s very, very hard to play in Utah. We gotta be locked in and set the tone early, get back on track after this game.”

The Bucks won 123-100 at home against the Jazz in November but lost 123-108 in Salt Lake City last February.

Utah is focusing on rebuilding this season and has had trouble at home, winning only three of their 18 home games, a place they have traditionally been strong. The Jazz have actually been better on the road, with a 7-18 record.

Utah has five of its next six games at home, including four in a row after playing Golden State on Tuesday.

The Jazz are returning from an 0-4 road trip, which included back-to-back losses to New Orleans, followed by defeats to Oklahoma City and Memphis. Injuries have been an issue for Utah, with Collin Sexton leading the team with 20 points and Walker Kessler adding 11 points and 10 rebounds on Saturday.

The Jazz struggled with their outside shooting against the Grizzlies, particularly during a tough 17-point third quarter. Utah hit only 12 of 47 3-pointers, with Sexton, Lauri Markkanen, and Keyonte George combining to go 2-for-24 from beyond the arc.

Jazz coach Will Hardy is confident his players will have better shooting performances in the future.

“When a guy like Lauri is 0-for-5, you tell him to shoot the sixth, seventh and eighth one — that’s just the way we’re gonna play, and that’s how I believe in our team operating,” Hardy said. “Same thing with Collin, same thing with Keyonte. … It was just a tough night shooting the ball.”