Giannis Antekounmpo has been bothered with a knee injury for a while, and has sat out the last four games. The first two of those ended up being a pair of losses to the Miami Heat, but then Jrue Holiday decided to step up.
In his last two games, which were wins over the Indiana Pacers and Cleveland Cavaliers, Holiday has averaged 36 points, five rebounds and nine assists. He’s provided a desperately needed offensive punch to the Bucks, who have also been missing Khris Middleton for a while.
Holiday’s resurgence comes at an important time, as the Bucks have struggled to put together long strings of wins recently. They’re still second in the Eastern Conference with a 29-16 record, but are only one game ahead of the fifth-place Cavaliers. With the race for home court advantage raging on, every win is a big one at the moment, and the Bucks will need more of the same.
While Holiday has a reputation for being an elite defender, he’s already shown his ability to take over on offense in the past. It’s not guaranteed that he’ll consistently be able to put out 30+ points per game while helping the Bucks navigate through this tough stretch without their two All-Stars. They’ve gone 7-7 in their last 14 games, and continuing to operate at a .500 clip is going to make it tough for them to stay in the top four out East.
They have a tough stretch of opponents over the next 15 games, and they’ll certainly be hoping that Antetokounmpo can make a quick return. Here’s who they’re facing over that stretch:
- Cleveland Cavaliers
- Detroit Pistons
- Denver Nuggets
- Indiana Pacers
- New Orleans Pelicans
- Charlotte Hornets
- LA Clippers
- Miami Heat
- Portland Trail Blazers
- LA Lakers
- LA Clippers
- Boston Celtics
- Chicago Bulls
- Miami Heat
- Phoenix Suns
