The Milwaukee Bucks play the Brooklyn Nets at the Barclays Centre tonight in an attempt to wrap up their three-game, five-day road trip in New York City with a winning record.

The cutoff time is 6:30 p.m.

The Bucks (22-8) split their two games against the Knicks and will now play a depleted Nets squad (15-15) on Friday before wrapping off their road trip in Cleveland.

On November 6, the Bucks defeated the Nets 129-125 away from home.

Tuesday night, Brooklyn defeated Detroit on the road, handing the Pistons their 27th consecutive defeat—a record in the NBA.

The Bucks lead 100-92 going into the fourth quarter, but the young Nets are holding it close. 62 points in the paint have helped Brooklyn remain in the game. Giannis Antetokounmpo has 23 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists, and he’s almost a triple-double.

Khris Middleton, who made 7 of his 10 shots, scored 15 points in the first half to help Milwaukee lead 66-59 at the intermission. Brooklyn scored 40 points in the paint while using 12 players.

The Bucks took a 32-31 lead after one against the Nets, with Giannis Antetokounmpo scoring seven points and Malik Beasley adding six. The Nets scored 18 points in the paint and made 6 of 7 free throws to hang close.

Trevor Gleeson joins the Bucks as an assistant coachTrevor Gleeson has joined the coaching staff of the Bucks, as head coach Adrian Gryphon revealed during his pregame availability at the Barclays Centre. 

Since Terry Stotts abruptly left the team just before the regular season began, the Bucks had been without an assistant.Gleeson, 55, had spent the previous two seasons working with Gryphon in Toronto under Raptors head coach Nick Nurse. Gleeson was free to look for other coaching positions following Nurse’s dismissal.

 He had come back to Australia in search of a new coaching role. 

As the head coach of the Perth Wildcats in Australia, Gleeson won five National Basketball League titles (in 2014, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2020) before moving to the NBA. He went on to the NBA after leading Perth to its sixth consecutive finals appearance. 

He has won NBL coach of the year twice.Since 1990, Gleeson has served as a coach in various capacities, with the exception of a brief time spent in South Korea and the Continental Basketball Association (CBA) in the United States.

In his pregame press conference, Gryphon stated that while he had spoken with Gleeson—who has attended Bucks games—he will enter and spend some time getting to know the team.”I have faith in him,” Gryphon remarked. 

“His mentality for the game is excellent. For now, though, I believe we’ll just take it slow and allow him to become comfortable on our squad. He is powerful, though, on both sides of the ball. He’ll undoubtedly begin performing some of the scouts as he feels more at ease.”

Is Giannis playing?Prior to the Bucks’ game against the Nets, head coach Adrian Gryphon stated that Antetokounmpo is fit to play. Antetokounmpo’s handling of his right calf strain had him classified as doubtful. Following the Bucks’ Christmas Day loss to the Knicks, the injury first appeared on Tuesday. This season, 

Antetokounmpo has only missed one game, which occurred on November 15 and was caused by his right calf.

Antetokounmpo has played in 19 straight games, his longest stretch of consecutive games since playing in 31 straight during the 2020-21 championship season.

Bucks injury report

Giannis Antetokounmpo, questionable (right calf injury management)

Jae Crowder, out (left adductor surgery)

Bucks starting lineup

Guards: Damian Lillard, Malik BeasleyForwards: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Khris MiddletonCenter: Brook Lopez

Nets injury report

Dorian Finney-Smith, questionable (left knee soreness)Nic Claxton, out (left ankle sprain injury management)Spencer Dinwiddie, out (rest)Cam Johnson, out (right knee sprain injury management)Lonnie Walker IV, out (left hamstring strain)Ben Simmons, out (left lower back never impingement)

Who is playing for the Nets?

Their two best scorers in Cam Thomas (23.5 points per game) and Mikal Bridges (21.6) will be available, along with Royce O’Neale who made 4 three-pointers against the Bucks in their previous meeting. Even if Antetokounmpo cannot play for Milwaukee, the Bucks will have a distinct size advantage with Brook Lopez and Bobby Portis.