Milwaukee opens this stretch at 1-3 and 12th in the East, with home dates against Houston and Cleveland before road games at Minnesota and Boston. No Buck is on the injury list, while the Rockets arrive without Alperen Sengun and Steven Adams.
Last week
The Bucks lost at home to Chicago, 132-125, and at Philadelphia, 127-116. On Oct. 26 they beat Indiana 110-102, with Tyler Herro scoring 23 points and grabbing 10 rebounds and Ryan Rollins scoring 19. That ended a three-game slide. The power rankings moved them up four spots, to 21st. Their current pace works out to 21-61, which is a long projection to draw from four games.
Wednesday, Oct. 28
Houston comes in 4-0 under Ime Udoka. This is the Rockets' fourth game in seven days and the first stop of a road swing. Sengun (back) and Adams (calf) are out, and Marcus Smart's left forearm leaves his status unsettled. Even so, Kevin Durant, Jabari Smith Jr. and Amen Thompson give Udoka plenty. Both clubs had one day off. The Journal Sentinel's Jim Owczarski noted that Jaime Jaquez Jr. was absent from Milwaukee's first injury report.
Saturday, Oct. 31
After two open days, Cleveland visits on Halloween. This is the game that measures the most. The Cavaliers are 2-1 and hold sixth in the East, 1.5 games ahead of Milwaukee. A rested team at home against a Central Division rival is the cleanest test this schedule offers of where a 12th-place club really stands. Orlando, at 1-2, holds tenth, just half a game up.
Nov. 2 and Nov. 4
The season's first road trip starts in Minnesota and ends in Boston, with a day off between. Brew Hoop's Jack Trehearne wrote that the Bucks may benefit from injuries to Kawhi Leonard and Anthony Edwards. Boston brings history. The Celtics overturned Milwaukee's 3-2 series lead in the 2022 playoffs. Almost nobody on this roster lived through that, but the franchise remembers it.
Nov. 6
Toronto comes to Milwaukee on Nov. 6 to close a run of five games. The rotation question carries through all of them. Pete Nance has averaged 28.2 minutes over his last five games, which is heavy work for a player re-signed to a two-way deal on Oct. 20. Taylor Jenkins will have to decide whether that workload holds up as the opponents get tougher.
Who is injured for the Rockets against the Bucks?
Alperen Sengun (back) and Steven Adams (calf) are out, and Marcus Smart has a left forearm issue. Milwaukee has no players on its injury list.
When do the Bucks play the Celtics?
They play on Nov. 4 in Boston. It is the second game of a two-stop road trip that starts at Minnesota on Nov. 2.
