3-point duo of Forbes, Portis lethal off Bucks bench

The Milwaukee Bucks flipped the calendar to March after an up-and-down month of February.

Milwaukee cruised through the first five contests of the month, topping opponents by an average of 20.8 points per game. On Feb. 10, the Bucks lost 125-124 to Phoenix, which started a five-game losing skid. But then Milwaukee rebounded with a win over Oklahoma City and haven’t lost since.

Five wins, five losses, five wins.

While the win and loss columns have been more of a roller coaster of late, Milwaukee was helped through the month by sharpshooting off its bench.

Bryn Forbes and Bobby Portis, both new acquisitions in the offseason, were among the league leaders in 3-point shooting in February. Among bench players with 30+ attempts from downtown, Portis ranked first in the NBA with a 57.1% 3-point clip. Toronto’s Chris Boucher, who nailed four 3-pointers against Milwaukee on Feb. 16, ranked second (52.4%). Forbes, attempting 47 triples and nailing 24, ranked third (51.1%).

Forbes nailed 3+ 3-pointers in eight of the Bucks’ 15 games in February, including a perfect 6-for-6 performance from downtown in Milwaukee’s win over Cleveland on Feb. 5.

Forbes, Portis and the Bucks (21-13) will take that five-game winning streak into Tuesday night’s matchup against the Denver Nuggets (19-15).

It’ll be a clash of the only pair of NBA players with 2,000+ points, 1,000+ rebounds and 500+ assists dating back to the start of last season: Giannis Antetokounmpo and Nikola Jokic. Antetokounmpo holds the edge in points (2,819) and rebounds (1,245), while Jokic owns the assist category (802).

Over the last four games, Antetokounmpo has poured in 38, 37, 38 and 36 points. That’s the longest streak of games with 35+ points in the NBA this season.

In Bucks history, only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has strung together a longer 35+ points stretch with two five-game runs in the 1971-72 campaign.

The game between Milwaukee and Denver tips off at 8 p.m. on FOX Sports Wisconsin, with “Bucks Live” beginning at 7:30 p.m.

Statistics courtesy Sportradar