The 13-5 Milwaukee Bucks take on the 9-9 Dallas Mavericks Sunday night in downtown Milwaukee at the Fiserv forum. The game will be broadcast on NBA TV and yes, it does run right up against the Packer game. This is the first time this season these teams have played. This game should have the feel of a true, regular season NBA game in terms of little defense and fun one on one matchups. Global star Luka Doncic will be in the house, as will former Bucks coach Jason Kidd. Giannis is expected to play.
Dallas made the NBA finals last season but have been quite pedestrian this season at 9-9.
The Mavs are coming off a crazy loss to Boston on the 23rd. Dallas also played last night against Toronto and lost 105-100. The Mavericks have been truly average this year, ranking in the middle in almost all of the traditional statistical categories. One thing they have been truly bad at, that the Bucks have been very strong at, is blocking shots.
Keys for the Bucks
Block Shots
Sounds simple but for the Bucks, this game will be won or lost with blocking shots and 4th quarter defense. If during the game the Bucks do a good job of altering the Mavs players’ shots, they’ll win. The Bucks are currently 3rd in the NBA in team blocks at 6.4 blocks per game. The Mavs are 29th out 30 teams.
Establish the fast break
The Bucks right now are getting some great movement up and down the court because of their length. “Huh, what does that mean?” you might ask. Well, it comes down to old Bucks GM John Hammond, and the philosophy of length. (Hammond is now the GM in Orlando)
A basketball court is 94 ft long. So line up your five guys, have them stretch out their arms and see how much ground they cover. (Giannis has a 7’3” wingspan, Portis 7’2” etc). For the Bucks starting five it comes up to just under half the court. (37 feet) When you watch Giannis cover so much ground with so few dribbles it really is special.
In this game Dallas should have tired legs. Getting as many fast breaks points as they can will be important. And if it does not seem immediately obvious that the Bucks have a huge length advantage against the smaller Mavericks, that is not a good sign for the Bucks.
Copyright: 2022 NBAE
The Opponent- The Mavericks
The Mavericks will go as far as Luka Doncic can carry them. He is having an MVP-caliber year. Doncic is leading the NBA in scoring ( 33.4 ppg). He is also 4th 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 Kristaps Porzingis and has shot well. His career really took off when he played in Brooklyn and he has been productive this year for Dallas with a 16 ppg, 5 assists per game stat line.
Owner Mark Cuban is the “Jerry Jones” of the NBA. Hopefully he’ll be partaking in a few adult beverages with the Milwaukee crowd.
Things to tell your buddies while you are watching the game
- The Bucks have been average over their last ten games, winning five of ten. An odd stat in all of this is if the Bucks can get over 108 points, they’ll win. 107.99999 points and under, they lose.
- Dallas was an NBA expansion team in 1980. They have won one NBA championship- 2011.
- This one takes me “back” a little in my work here with Wi Sports Heroics. Check out my first piece and “That One Time Dirk Nowitski was a Milwaukee Buck”. All things considered, there have been some interesting connections between these two franchise, including the legacy of Don Nelson.
Follow me on Twitter at @authorrudylb and check out my other writings at www.rudylb.com. Follow us at @WiSportsHeroics! For all things Wisconsin sports, click here! Also, check out our merch store for some amazing WSH merchandise!
