In their last 10 games, the Portland Trail Blazers are 3-7. Something is off fundamentally with this team because nothing has changed roster-wise since Robin Lopez’s injury. Lamarcus Aldridge dodged thumb surgery, keeping Portland’s season intact, and Batum has been on and off the court these past few weeks, but nothing major.

This will be their third game of the week; the first two both ended in heartbreaking losses. They were downed by Cleveland by five behind Kyrie Irving’s historic 55-point game, and they blew a late fourth-quarter lead against Atlanta to become yet another victim to the Hawks' win streak.

Portland now faces the Milwaukee Bucks. The Bucks have won six of their last 10; with all six victories over sub-.500 teams, and three of the four losses came to stronger opponents with above .500 records. Milwaukee, as of now, has the sixth spot in the weaker Eastern Conference. Based on the last 10 games, however, it appears that they’re only capable of beating lower-end teams, putting Portland in a good position.

The Bucks, like the Blazers, are down a few key players. They lost rookie Jabari Parker and third-year man Kendall Marshall for the season; plus, Larry Sanders has played sporadically the last few weeks, most recently receiving a 10-game ban for violating league anti-drug policies.

For the Blazers, Lopez is still sidelined along with Joel Freeland. Luckily, Aldridge postponed his thumb surgery, maintaining Portland’s front court. Meyers Leonard has seen a big up in play time because of this.

Milwaukee, even minus several players, has sustained a solid record, much better than what was predicted before the season started. This is primarily due to the outstanding performances by Giannis Antetokounmpo and Brandon Knight. Giannis filled in for the missing Parker, and he is averaging 12 points, 6 boards, 1 steal, and 1 block. He will undoubtedly prove a tough matchup for Nicolas Batum to guard.

Knight, in his second year with the Bucks, has seen a huge increase in stats since he left Detroit. He and Damian Lillard, two top young point guards in the league, will battle it out tonight.

On the Portland side, Aldridge is the X factor in the game. Milwaukee doesn’t have anyone who can guard LA well, and seeing what he did to Paul Millsap last night, don’t be surprised if he drops another 35 and 10. But in order for this to happen, Lillard needs to put the whole getting snubbed from the All-Star game behind him. It affected his play last night because he thinks he has something to prove when, in the end, if he continues to perform like he has the whole year, that alone will show he is truly a top-tier point guard.

Following in Atlanta’s footsteps, it is not important to have stars on your roster. They did get three guys into the All-Star game, but each night, it is a different member of the team leading the scoring category. In order for Portland to get back on track, they need to play as a team because in the end, it does not matter who does the best as long as they get the W.

Narrowing it down to just the game against the Bucks tonight, if Aldridge can get in a groove and the Blazers' bench outscores Milwaukee’s, Portland should be in good shape to win the game and, hopefully, start up another big win streak.