Monday, Dec. 29, 6:00 p.m. CST, Spectrum Center, Charlotte, North Carolina TV: FanDuel Sports Network Wisconsin, FanDuel Sports Ne

While the rest of the NBA world may be contemplating Giannis Antetokounmpo trade ideas, the Milwaukee Bucks seem primarily focused on attaining additional talent to improve their postseason chances and give the former NBA Most Valuable Player motivation to stay.

CHARLOTTE — With their 123-113 win over the Charlotte Hornets, the Milwaukee Bucks (14-19) have now won two games in a row.

This article was originally published on www.si.com/nba/hornets/onsi as Score predictions for Charlotte Hornets vs. Milwaukee Bucks. The Charlotte Hornets are playing much better basketball of late, and tonight, will look to keep the good times rolling, albeit without Kon Knueppel.

The Milwaukee Bucks tonight do battle with the much-improved Charlotte Hornets, who sit just below the Bucks in the standings. The season series between these teams is 1-1, with Charlotte taking the first game by double digits and the Bucks taking the second in an OT thriller.

Bobby Portis shot 8 of 12 from the field and scored 25 points off the bench, Giannis Antetokounmpo added 24 points and seven assists and the Milwaukee Bucks defeated the Charlotte Hornets 123-113 to earn back-to-back wins for the first time since late October.

As Antetokounmpo emphasized during his post-game comments, Milwaukee is 11th in the Eastern Conference standings, 1½ games behind the Atlanta Hawks for the final spot in the play-in. That leaves them 4½ games behind the Philadelphia 76ers, who currently sit in sixth in the East with a 16-13 record.

During these talks, they’ve been linked to two-time NBA All-Star Zach LaVine of the Sacramento Kings as well as Kings guard Malik Monk and Portland Trail Blazers forward Jerami Grant.