San Antonio Spurs at Milwaukee Bucks 1/4/20: Starting Lineups, Matchup Preview, Daily Fantasy

San Antonio Spurs at Milwaukee Bucks Preview

In an interconference matchup tonight, the San Antonio Spurs are hoping to change their fortunes, but unfortunately, it will be against the Milwaukee Bucks as they start a home and home series with the Bucks with the Spurs traveling to Milwaukee tonight, while the Bucks visit the Alamo City on Monday, which will take care of the regular-season series between the teams.

The Bucks have the best record in the league at 31-5 and they have won their last four games. They are 8-2 in their last 10 games and are an excellent 17-2 at the Fiserv Forum. San Antonio, meanwhile, has last their last game and currently sit at eighth in the Western Conference with a 14-19 record. They are 5-5 in their last 10 games and the road has been none too kind as they are 4-10 in away games away from the AT&T Center.

TV Schedule

Date: 1/4/20
Time: 8:30 PM ET
Arena: Fiserv Forum, Milwaukee, WI
Channel: FSSW-SA, FSWIS

Injuries

Spurs: No Injuries
Bucks: Donte DiVincenzo (O)

San Antonio Spurs Starting Lineup

PG: Dejounte Murray
SG: Bryn Forbes
SF: DeMar DeRozan
PF: Trey Lyles
C: LaMarcus Aldridge

Spurs Analysis

The San Antonio Spurs’ season has looked like an EKG chart, filled with peaks and valleys so far. They get a key win and then will follow that by dropping a game against an opponent they should seemingly beat.

They had consecutive wins over the Detroit Pistons and Golden State Warriors last week, but needed overtime to dispatch the Warriors, who were without D’Angelo Russell. Then on Thursday night, they could not stop Oklahoma City’s guards while their own guards struggled as the Thunder went on to win 109-103.

“We didn’t move the ball very well — we were on the dribble too much,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich told to San Antonio Express-News. “We didn’t really attack. They attacked a lot better than we did, just straight ahead at the rim, found people.”

They especially struggled with guarding sophomore guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who attacked the rim and had 25 points. To counter, Spurs guard Bryn Forbes had three points in 29 minutes, and Patty Mills, who has been solid recently, only managed two points.

One of the few bright spots for San Antonio was second-year swingman Lonnie Walker IV, who had 16 points and seven rebounds in just 21 minutes off the bench. He has eaten into Marco Belinelli’s minutes, and he is starting to make a case for getting some of Forbes’ minutes as well.

DeMar DeRozan and LaMarcus Aldridge have both played well lately, with Aldridge starting to find his range from three. DeRozan had 30 points and Aldridge added 22 points and 12 rebounds.

Spurs Quick Links: Spurs Starting Lineup, Spurs Roster, Spurs Depth Chart, Spurs Injuries, Spurs News, Spurs Schedule

Milwaukee Bucks Starting Lineup

PG: Eric Bledsoe
SG: Wesley Matthews
SF: Khris Middleton
PF: Giannis Antetokounmpo
C: Brook Lopez

Bucks Analysis

After suffering a loss to the Philadelphia 76ers on Christmas Day, the Milwaukee Bucks have won their last four over the Atlanta Hawks, Orlando Magic, Chicago Bulls, and Minnesota Timberwolves.

The Bucks have not lost to a team this year with a record below .500, so that bodes well for them in this two-game span with San Antonio, but Giannis Antetokounmpo says his team won’t have that on their minds.

“You don’t even think about that,” Antetokounmpo said. “We just go out there and we feel like we’re gonna win the game, and that we’re going to get the job done. Doesn’t really matter if the opponent is above .500 or below .500. We just take it day by day, try to be in the present, hopefully, a lot of good moments for the team.”

On New Year’s Day, the Bucks just got by the Timberwolves 106-104. The Wolves rallied to score 33 in the final quarter, but the Bucks were able to hang on as a very surprising skeleton crew of Wolves players, headlined by Shabazz Napier battled them all night.

Giannis was a big reason why they were able to hang on as he finished with 32 points and a whopping 17 rebounds. Khris Middleton added 13 points and Eric Bledsoe had 10.

Bucks Quick Links: Bucks Starting Lineup, Bucks Roster, Bucks Depth Chart, Bucks Injuries, Bucks News, Bucks Schedule

Key Player Matchups

Giannis Antetokounmpo vs. LaMarcus Aldridge

Aldridge has played well and seems to be finding his stroke from deep but almost any matchup against Giannis is not really a fair matchup. They call him the Greek Freak for a reason, and he’s been leading the Bucks to their best season in years. Aldridge often struggles with quicker forwards, so the Spurs help defense will have to be ready. Expect Trey Lyles to also get some hefty minutes against Giannis.

Khris Middleton vs. DeMar DeRozan

 Middleton and DeRozan are both gifted shooters, but they have different skillsets within their offense. Middleton is an outside shooter who can drive, while DeRozan excels in midrange and also likes iso matchups where he can look to penetrate.

Daily Fantasy

DeMar DeRozan and Giannis Antetokounmpo are fantasy studs in tonight’s matchup. DeRozan is available for $6.7k on FanDuel and is projected to finish with 41.1 fantasy points. Giannis is available for $11.5k and is projected for 54.2 points.

If you’re looking for a low-price, low-risk player with the potential for a high reward, Bucks reserve guard George Hill could be your best play with Donte DiVincenzo out. He is available for just $3.9k at a projection of just 15.2 points, but I expect him to top that tonight. Dejounte Murray is also a good option.

Bet on Matchup

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