Late start (9pm) for Bucks vs Mavs
The 18-6 Milwaukee Bucks take on the 13-11 Dallas Mavericks Friday Night in downtown Dallas at the American Airlines Center. The game will be a little later with a 9pm start because it is the back-end of a nationally televised package with ESPN. (The Lakers play the 76ers on the front end.) It’s being billed as Luka vs Giannis which it should be! Luka is 1st in the NBA in scoring and Giannis is second. Click here to see a previous piece about some of the nice things Luka had to say about Giannis.
This is the last game this year between the two teams. The Bucks won the first game 124-115. Unless, of course, they meet again in the NBA Finals. Vegas has the Bucks as 1 point favorites.
Both Milwaukee and Dallas are pretty hot coming into the game. Both teams have won four of their last five games. It should be like a Tornado running into a Hurricane.
Related: Bucks projected record comes into focus
Keys for the Bucks
Pass the ball
The Bucks are averaging 25 assists per game as a team. That puts them 12th in the NBA. When they pass, they win.
When Jrue Holiday is matched up directly vs Luka he only averages 6.1 assists. His career average is 6.8. That might not seem like much of a difference but if Holiday can get around 8-9 assists, that bodes well for the Bucks in terms of distributing the ball. If he is under 6, that isn’t good.
Control the glass
In this space we kinda obsess on the Bucks and their quest to lead the league in team rebounding. Well, they are still in second place, league-wise, in terms of team volume rebounds (48.3) They lead the league still in defensive rebounding. Memphis is number one.
Can the Bucks create more offensive rebounding opportunities against a smaller Dallas team? In a game one win in Milwaukee (124-115), Giannis had three offensive rebounds and Jordan Nwora had two and the Bucks had more offensive rebounds than the Mavs. They need to be aggressive and do that against the smaller team.
The Opponent- The Mavericks
The Mavericks are a hot team right now. They are 10-3 at home. They are starting to look like the team that made the NBA Finals last year.
The Mavericks will go as far as Luka Doncic can carry them. He is having an MVP-caliber year. He is leading the NBA in scoring ( 32.9 ppg). He is also 6th in the NBA in assists per game so it’s difficult to accuse him of being a ball hog. He just hasn’t gotten much help from his supporting cast.
Twenty-seven year old forward Christian Wood was supposed to fill that role as a solid “2”. Statistically he has been fine (16.8 ppg, 57% field goal percentage) but out on the floor, he has not lived up to the hype. Two years ago for Houston he averaged 21 points per game and really was blossoming into a star, playing with confidence. He has regressed. Also, he has been a terrible free throw shooter. (.669 career percentage)
For the Mavericks Luka’s backcourt mate Spencer Dinwiddle has been the better player. He had a cup of coffee last year in Washington before being traded for Kristap Porzingas and has shot well. His career really took off when he played in Brooklyn and has been productive this year for Dallas with a 16 ppg, 5 assists per game stat line.
Things to tell your buddies while you are watching the game
- The Bucks are 57-4 under Mike Budenholzer when they have 30 or more team assists.
- Dallas was an NBA expansion team in 1980. They have won one NBA championship- 2011.
- Anytime I think Mavericks, I think Dirk and and Steve Nash. Check out my first piece with this online magazine and “That One Time Dirk Nowiski was a Milwaukee Buck”.
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