After an 82-75 loss to the Utah Jazz on Saturday, the Milwaukee Bucks will attempt to redeem themselves against the Denver Nuggets Tuesday night at the Pepsi Center.

In Saturday’s contest, the Bucks had control for most of the game until a 7-0 run late in the third gave the Jazz a 58-54 lead they never relinquished. Trey Burke was crucial down the stretch as he led the way with 23 points, dished out six assists and had only one turnover. Derrick Favors filled up the stat sheet with 16 points, 12 boards, three blocks and three steals.

Michael Carter-Williams had 16 on 6-of-10 shooting to go along with five rebounds and four steals while Khris Middleton led the Bucks with 18 points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals as Milwaukee lost its fourth consecutive road game.

On the other side, Denver started the season 18-20, but since trading their second best scorer Arron Afflalo to Portland, the Nuggets have dropped six in a row, averaging 87.8 points and 36.1 percent shooting during that span and have lost 19 of 21 overall.

As a result, the Nuggets fired their head coach Brian Shaw Tuesday morning, as assistant coach Melvin Hunt will become the interim head coach for the rest of the season.

In a 99-92 loss against the New Orleans Pelicans on Sunday, Tyreke Evans scored 22 points, nabbed seven boards and gave out seven assists, and Omer Asik hauled in 16 points. Randy Foye had 19 for Denver, Will Barton scored 16 and although Nuggets leading scorer Ty Lawson had 11 assists, he and the team’s premier big man Kenneth Faried combined for just eight points. It will be imperative that both key players step up their overall game if Denver wants to challenge Milwaukee for the win.

It was the team’s 10th consecutive home loss which is a franchise record. 

This will be the second and final encounter these two teams will have this season as Milwaukee won the first meeting, 89-81, on February 20. In that game, six players scored in double-figures, including 14 from John Henson on 6-of-8 shooting, and Milwaukee held the Nuggets to 35 percent from the field. Wilson Chandler led Denver with 19 points and rookie Jusuf Nurkic looked sharp as he registered 11 points and had a season-high 15 rebounds to go with three blocks. Lawson did not play due to missing a practice.

However, the Bucks will not have to worry about Nurkic this time as he will not play with a foot injury. Darrell Arthur sat out Sunday for a second consecutive game with a strained right calf while the Bucks’ Jared Dudley was sidelined with a sore left knee. Also, O.J. Mayo played 27 minutes after missing the previous two games.

Milwaukee is 3-8 on the road against Western Conference teams this season and has lost the last four in Denver, but the Nuggets haven’t struggled this much since finishing 17-65 in 2002-2003.

Tip-off will be at 9 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.

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About the author
Mike Tews
My name is Mike and I'm a journalism major from UW-Madison.