Bucks aim to keep hot streak going vs. Pelicans' star duo of Cousins and Davis

The last time the Milwaukee Bucks took the court was Saturday night at the BMO Harris Bradley Center when they rolled past the Utah Jazz, 117-100, for their sixth win in seven games and third in a row. Since then, they’ve had a three-day gap — their longest time between games to date this season — before Wednesday’s 7 p.m. contest against the  Pelicans in New Orleans.

That’s three days to prepare. Three days for a banged up team to recover. Three days to sustain their positive energy or three days to lose it.

The layoff might be unusually long, but no one is getting complacent.

“I think we have a unique opportunity here as a team,” Giannis Antetokounmpo said. “We’re doing well right now and we’ve got to keep it up. …

“We know that things are going well, we’re feeling ourselves right now playing great as a team, but we’ve got to keep playing hard. How long can we last playing like this?”

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More than anything, that will likely depend on how Milwaukee handles the twin towers of New Orleans, Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins, a pair of bigs who defy positional designations with their all-around abilities on the court.

 Cousins, a 6-foot-11, 270-pound wrecking ball, can crush you in the post or pull up from long range, where he’s a 34.6% three-point shooter on 6.5 attempts per game. He’s also the top defensive rebounder in the NBA and dishes out 5.1 assists per game.

Davis, who has missed four of the past six games including Monday’s loss to the Houston Rockets due to a groin injury, is a stable running mate for Cousins. At 6-foot-10, 253 pounds, Davis can hurt you from everywhere on the court just like Cousins, using his handle, finesse and growing power to maneuver to his spots on the court.

Together, they account for 51.2 points (Cousins 26.1, Davis 25.1) and 23.1 rebounds (Cousins 12.5, Davis 10.6) per game and cause issues for defenses in a league where two-big lineups are increasingly uncommon.

“They’re different players but the same animal, man,” Bucks center John Henson said. “They both can shoot it, they both can handle it, they both got touch around the rim, they’re both athletic, they’re both long. It’s a pick your poison type thing with those guys. For you to have a chance to win they both can’t get off, so hopefully we can develop a scheme the next couple of days to figure out what we’re going to do with those guys.”

With Antetokounmpo and Henson, the Bucks run out a lineup with two bigs, though Antetokounmpo’s physique and unique skill set make him quite different from your father’s power forward. Still, the Bucks have the size to match up with lineups featuring Cousins and Davis.

Still, they know the only way to stymie Cousins and Davis will be as a unit.

“They’re both averaging 30 and 10, so the league hasn’t necessarily figured it out yet,” Henson said. “For us, if we can help each other out … the bigs are always helping the guards out, now it’s their turn. …

“We’re going to need help, so it’s going to be interesting to see what the guards do for us because we always try to help them. I’m sure they’ll be able to help us coming up.”

With Davis in and out of the lineup over the past two weeks, the Pelicans have shown that they’re still fearsome — at least when it comes to their starting lineup. New Orleans’ starters combined for 113 points on Sunday in a win over the Philadelphia 76ers before scoring 120 points in a 130-123 loss in Houston on Monday.

Rajon Rondo had a triple-double with 13 points, 12 rebounds and 12 assists while Jrue Holiday scored a season-high 37 points and E’Twaun Moore had a career-high 36 points as the Pelicans set a franchise record with 18 three-pointers. All of that came with Davis inactive due to his groin injury.

“Their team is playing well,” Bucks coach Jason Kidd said. “We’ve got our hands full.”

Injury update: The Bucks won't be getting any reinforcements in New Orleans.

None of the team's five injured players — Matthew Dellavedova (left knee tendinitis), Tony Snell (left patellar tendinitis), Mirza Teletovic (post-surgery, right knee), Jason Terry (left calf strain) and Jabari Parker (post-surgery, left ACL) — is on the trip for Wednesday's game against the Pelicans.

Eyes on the basket: DeAndre Liggins’ primary objective with the Bucks is to be a ball of energy on defense, nagging and frustrating opposing guards every minute he is on the floor. And there’s no question he’s performing that role well.

But there’s more to basketball than playing defense. Sometimes you’ve got to shoot the ball, too.

In recent games, Liggins has been reluctant to do that. He’s attempted just nine shots in more than 80 minutes of action over the past five games, a noticeable drop-off for an already reticent shooter. On Saturday against the Jazz, Liggins passed twice on the same possession with the shot clock running down — a situation where everyone was looking at him to shoot.

“If I don’t shoot them shots I’m kind of hurting the team,” said Liggins, who spent part of Monday’s practice putting up three-pointers with Malcolm Brogdon and assistant coach Joe Prunty.

“I’m just so locked in defensively then I think that’s the only thing I can do and I forget I did put in a lot of work this summer and my shot has improved. They want me to shoot the ball. Teams are going to sag off me because they can live with me shooting the ball, but I can make shots.”

Liggins believes his hesitation when it comes to shooting comes down to a mindset — one he needs to change. He says he needs to play as aggressively on offense as he does on defense and recognizes that he has the support of his team.

“I think for him it’s just being reminded that he can look at the rim, too, and shoot it,” Kidd said. “I think everybody who was under the roof today here at practice told him to look at the basket. I think he got the message. He’s going to be open, so he’s got to be able to knock it down.”