MILWAUKEE – When the Utah Jazz beat Milwaukee 104-88 earlier this month, one of the main keys was shutting down the Bucks’ all-star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo and holding him to just nine points on 2-of-10 shooting. It was one of just three times this season, the man known as the “Greek Freak” has been held to single-digit scoring.
Utah’s all-star forward Gordon Hayward guarded Antetokounmpo much of that game and talked after Friday’s shootaround about how the Jazz slowed him down and what they must do Friday night.
“Forced him to take outside shots and tried to keep him out of the paint as much as I could and made him uncomfortable,” Hayward said. “You want to make him shoot some outside contested shots, because if he gets on top of the rim, he’s too big, too long. You also don’t want to foul him.”
The Jazz should be healthy for one of the few times all season with Rodney Hood scheduled to be back in the lineup after sitting out the last seven games since re-injuring his knee in that Milwaukee game on Feb. 1. Coach Quin Snyder said Friday morning that Hood will play, but didn’t know if he’d start or not.
“It feels great to be back and I’ll try to get reacclimated to the team and get my game legs back,” Hood said. “There’s no swelling, just little bit of pain -- I just have to play through it the last 25 games.”
The Jazz and Bucks tip off at 6 p.m. at the BMO Harris Bradley Center. Then the Jazz head to Washington for a game Sunday, followed by a game at Oklahoma City on Tuesday night.