The Milwaukee Bucks received an early Christmas present in the form of a rare road victory Tuesday against the Indiana Pacers in Indianapolis.
Is it also greedy to covet a victory on the road after Christmas?
The Bucks will have the opportunity to make it two in a row when they visit the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday night.
They beat the Pacers, 111-94, behind Kevin Porter Jr.’s 24 points, six rebounds and five assists.
“Everyone was involved,” Porter said. “Even in the last game (at Minnesota), everyone was involved and like (coach) Doc (Rivers) always says, we’re going in the right direction and we just have to continue to trust the plans, trust each other and just go play. I think when we don’t have expectations and our only expectation is to have fun out there, I think we’re a much better team.”
The Bucks, playing without Giannis Antetokounmpo, ended an eight-game road losing streak and gained a much-needed confidence boost.
“To be honest, man, it’s been up and down all year so it feels good, especially before Christmas break we have a few days off to relax with our families, so definitely when you win, everything feels better, right? » said Bucks forward Bobby Portis Jr.. “It feels good to be heading into the holidays.
“But thanks for all our hard work, man. We’ve been working in the lab, just trying to make it work, make it flow, adding a lot of new things and implementing the slide on offense, the low man on defense. The guys came in and had a ton of energy tonight and it was good to get a win, especially in this hostile environment that over the years we’ve kind of struggled in. It’s great.”
Antetokounmpo has been out since Dec. 3 with a right calf injury, but underwent 3-on-3 work earlier this week following a team shootout in Indianapolis.
Memphis overcame a series of injuries to key players, including starters Ja Morant and Zach Edey and key reserves Cedric Coward, Brandon Clarke and Vince Williams Jr., to defeat the Utah Jazz 137-128 on Tuesday in Salt Lake City.
Santi Aldama tied a career high, which he set earlier this month, with 37 points against the Jazz. Aldama made a career-best seven 3-pointers and added seven assists and five rebounds.
The Grizzlies also got a strong performance from forward GG Jackson II, who recently returned from a stint with the franchise’s G League team. Jackson made his first start of the season at Utah and scored 18 points with a team-high nine rebounds.
Jackson, 21, is in his third year with the Grizzlies and has requested a move to the G League in order to get more playing time.
Against Utah, he made 7 of 9 shots from the field, including a fourth-quarter dunk that gave Memphis a nine-point advantage.
“GG has had the opportunity to be with the G League team and have some game reps and it really shows in his comfort level,” coach Tuomas Iisalo said. “We felt good having him in the starting lineup.”
–Field level media
