Game 1 in the two-game series between Minnesota and Milwaukee
The (33-18) Milwaukee Bucks take on the (33-18) Minnesota Timberwolves Thursday night in downtown Milwaukee at the Fiserv Forum: the good ole “beer keg”. The Bucks are (1-4) under new Head Coach Doc Rivers. The team is coming off one of its longest road trips of the season. They could use this one in the worst way. They are currently the third seed in the Eastern Conference after having been pretty much the number two seed all year. (The Cavs are 33-16).
Milwaukee is (21-5) at home. Minnesota is only (16-11) away from the Target Center. Minnesota lost to Chicago in overtime on Tuesday night.
This is the first time this season these two teams have played. Newly acquired Wolves player Monte Morris is listed as a “game-time-decision”. These teams play again in a few weeks after the all-star game break.
Khris Middleton is out.
Vegas has the Bucks at a 39% chance to win and 2-point underdogs. At home. That’s highly unusual.
Related: Bucks Trade Targets that might have been
Milwaukee Bucks keys
Pass the ball
The Bucks are averaging 26.5 assists per game as a team. That puts them 14th in the NBA. In the recent loss to Denver, they only had 24 team assists. In their most recent win against New Orleans, they had 30 team assists. When they pass, they win.
Damian Lillard leads the team in assists. (6.8 per game) Interestingly enough Giannis is averaging 6.3 assists per game and is second on the team. To get over 13 assists per game from your two mega-star players speaks to their commitment to win.
As a team, if Milwaukee is over that 26 assists per game number, you’d expect a “W”.
Hit some threes
The Bucks shot 40% from three against Dallas is a good win (12-30). In a tough loss against Utah the Bucks were 35% from three but took a ton more (15-41). In that loss, Lillard was 1/8 and Jae Crowder was 2/7. Finally, in the most recent loss against Phoenix the Bucks were 32% from three (13-40).
See the trend here.
The team is starting to “live and die” by the three. In the NBA regular season that happens.
But in tonight’s game, the Bucks need something closer to that Dallas win (fewer threes with a better percentage) than the two most recent losses.
Keep Scoring
Right now the identity of this team is in flux with Rivers coming in to coach. That’s ok; it is to be expected.
So will we ever see that early, regular season high powered offense again? Milwaukee remains in second, overall, in the NBA in team scoring (123.3 pts per game).
Can Milwaukee’s 2nd ranked offense score against Minnesota’s NBA best defense?
The Opponent: The Minnesota Timberwolves
Tonight the Bucks are going to be playing against arguably the best defensive team in the NBA.
Minnesota does not score a ton, scoring 113 points a game. They also don’t give up many points (107 pts per game). Teams shoot less than 45% against this defense, best in the NBA.
What makes the Timberwolves tick? They, like the Bucks, have a strong big three in Rudy Gobert, number one overall pick (2015) Karl Anthony-Towns, and number one overall pick (2020) Anthony Edwards. Edwards is blossoming into a huge NBA star.
Edwards leads the team in scoring (25.9 points per game). He also leads the team in turnovers (3.4 per game). He has started in every game he has played.
Karl Anthony-Towns was injured for a large chunk of the year last season. This year he is playing well. He is averaging 22.7 points per game and 8.6 rebounds per game.
Rudy Gobert is finally fitting in with the T-Wolves. Never known as a prolific scorer, Gobert is a rebounding machine (12.6 per game).
Jaden McDaniels plays power forward right now for the injured Karl Anthony-Towns. (Towns has a severe leg injury) He has had an up and down year. He is averaging 11/2/1.
Naz Reid is their backup center. He tends to play the most off the bench but is not generally considered to be a “6th man”.
Veteran point guard Mike Conley (36 years old) has been a calming influence on this young team. He leads the team in assists.
Things to tell your buddies as you are watching the game
- Doc Rivers was once traded: as a coach. Yep, he went from Boston to LA for a 2015 first-round draft pick.
- On March 4, 1986, Rivers recorded a career-high 21 assists in a game against the 76ers.
- Minnesota has yet to win an NBA championship in its history.
- The Milwaukee Bucks are the only NBA team to have won BOTH an Eastern and a Western Conference Championship.
- Today is my birthday! Hopefully, the Bucks can hook it up with a “w”.
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