Bucks need strong trip out West to boost playoff push

It will be April the next time the Milwaukee Bucks play in front of the home crowd at the BMO Harris Bradley Center. How much they will have to play for at that time may be determined during their four-game Western Conference road trip starting at 9:30 p.m. Tuesday against the Los Angeles Clippers at the Staples Center.

With a 1/2-game lead over the Miami Heat and one game behind the Washington Wizards, the Bucks begin their trip in seventh place in the Eastern Conference standings. Among those three teams, the Bucks have the toughest remaining schedule and currently are not in line to win any tiebreakers whether they finish the season tied with one of those teams or both.

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So if the Bucks are going to make a meaningful move up the standings with nine games remaining they're likely going to need to do it during this trip, which includes games against the Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Lakers and Denver Nuggets following Tuesday's opener against the Clippers.

They'll begin that trip with a pair of wins, including an impressive performance on Sunday in a 106-103 victory over the San Antonio Spurs.

“It’s huge," Khris Middleton said of playing well before heading out West. "We’ve got some tough teams on the West Coast trip starting with the Clippers who just beat us at home. If we play the way we have these last two games — our motors on, we’re attacking, we’re playing unselfish — we’ll be fine on this trip.”

As well as the Bucks have played over the last couple games, past results indicate their next stretch represents an uphill climb.

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The Bucks have played each of those teams once before in Milwaukee, going 1-3 in those contests. Their only win came over the Lakers in November. The Warriors and Nuggets dispatched the Bucks by double digits and the Clippers earned a 127-120 victory last week in which they led by as many as 19 in the fourth quarter.

Of course, every game is different and there are certainly a few changes to the matchups this time around.

While they weren't playing particularly well to begin with, the Bucks finished last week's game against the Clippers short-handed as Giannis Antetokounmpo sprained his right ankle and left the game with four minutes remaining in the second quarter. Without their all-star, the Bucks fell further out of sync in the second half.

Injuries will surely play a noticeable role in Thursday's game at Oracle Arena against the Warriors considering Golden State will be without at least two of their four all-stars.

Stephen Curry has a sprained MCL in his left knee and will miss at least the rest of the regular season. Klay Thompson has a fractured right thumb and isn't expected back until April and Kevin Durant has a fractured rib on his right side that could keep him out beyond Thursday's game, though it's possible he could be back in the lineup for the matchup with the Bucks.

Milwaukee has been dealing with its own injuries but there's a chance they could get some relief before the trip is over. Point guards Malcolm Brogdon (partially torn left quadriceps tendon) and Matthew Dellavedova (right ankle sprain) have been sidelined since early February but are traveling with the team as they prepare to return.

Brogdon has stated he is aiming for a return in early April, which means there is at least a chance he could be back for Sunday's game in Denver. Dellavedova, who originally had a rehab timeline of 3-4 weeks following his Feb. 4 injury, reaggravated the injury which is expected to tack on another four weeks, approximately. He, too, could be back by the end of the trip.

It's still possible that neither Brogdon nor Dellavedova plays despite being on the trip — as was the case when Dellavedova accompanied the Bucks on their four-game West Coast trip in November only to miss the whole thing while working back from left knee tendinitis. Still, with both of them showing signs of progress, it's positive for the Bucks to have them around.

The Bucks have not been at full strength at any point this season, with Brogdon going down the night before Parker returned from a torn left ACL.

But the team has found ways to put together impressive wins since Brogdon and Dellavedova went down — with victories over the Toronto Raptors and Spurs standing out.

Now, if Milwaukee wants to keep its hopes alive of moving further up the Eastern Conference standings, it will need to build off that win over San Antonio and find a way to put together a second winning West Coast road trip of the season.

"Now we’re feeling good about ourselves and this road trip is going to be big for us," Antetokounmpo said. "Hopefully we can go play hard, get some wins and come back.”