Milwaukee Bucks vs. Los Angeles Clippers Preview: Looking in a Mirror

It took over 70 games for the Milwaukee Bucks and the Los Angeles Clippers to square off in the 2017/18 season, but tonight the two teams finally face each other. The Bucks are coming off a shoulder shrug kind of loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday night and a victory tonight might be able to help them out of their eighth seeded quick sand pit.

Bucks Update

In a game where Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton combined to score 67 points and convert on two-thirds of their shots, the Bucks managed to still lose. Milwaukee was the first team to blink in the three-way staring contest they have going on with the Miami Heat and the Philadelphia 76ers for 6-8 seed positioning in the Eastern Conference. Yesterday played host to a flurry of rumors surrounding the team from Jabari Parker’s looming contract negotiations to potential candidates to fill the soon-to-be vacant head coaching position. Tonight’s game will serve as a mini-reprieve from the off-season-like rumors that have crept into the final stretch of the regular season.

Player to Watch: Tony Snell

Believe it or not Snell is on pace to set a career high in three-point field goal percentage for a season. His previous mark of 40.6 percent from last year is being surpassed by his 40.9 percent mark this season. Snell went an abysmal 1/7 from beyond the arc against the Cavaliers on Monday night, but had gone a combined 7/11 in the three games before that less than stellar outing.

Clippers Update

Los Angeles is coming off a 123-109 loss against the Minnesota Timberwolves last night and will need to rebound tonight against Milwaukee as they continue to scratch and claw for that eighth seed in the Western Conference standings. The Clippers are 12-9 since the Blake Griffin trade on January 29th, however they have lost four in a row as that eighth seed is starting to get slightly more out of reach as the days pass.

Player to Watch: DeAndre Jordan

The player who the Bucks were connected to as the trade deadline got nearer and nearer gets to strut his stuff in front of his almost home fans. Jordan is converting free throws at a 61 percent clip this season, which sounds bad, but that is a career high for him and this season will be just his second time finishing with a free throw percentage over 50 in his career. With the Bucks getting decimated in the rebound game on Monday night, Jordan will make his presence known as he muscles past the Bucks’ twiggy bigs. He is currently on pace to average a career high for rebounds in a season with 15.4.