Check your closets: Maybe you hide the game ball?
The (17-7) Milwaukee Bucks take on the (2-22) Detroit Pistons on Saturday evening at home at the Fiserv forum. (5pm CST start time) The game should be broadcast live on Bally’s Sports. Milwaukee is already favored by 17.5 points. Detroit has lost twenty-one games in a row. Milwaukee beat Detroit all the way back on November 8th (120-118).
The game has an earlier start time 5pm CST, probably to accommodate families and to try to get anyone to watch the lowly Pistons.
Detroit has a good, veteran, respected coach in Monty Williams. You might remember him as the coach of the Suns when Milwaukee won the NBA title back in 2021. You didn’t see Coach Williams stealing any game balls?
Related: Should Bucks fans worry about 1st year Coach Adrian Griffin
The Milwaukee Bucks are coming off a nice, somewhat transformative win over Indiana. It was a win that fans hope will galvanize this team and send them into a fun Christmas day game against the Knicks. We’ll discuss that more but in the NBA to be featured on a Christmas game still remains a big deal.
Milwaukee is currently the number two seed in the East.
Milwaukee Bucks keys to victory
No let downs
When someone comes into your house and tries to steal your stuff OF COURSE you are going to be mad! The way the Indiana game ended was more like a WWF match than anything else.
Milwaukee needs to come out with some passion and energy on Saturday evening. No let downs!
Milwaukee is currently second in the NBA in team scoring (123.3 points per game).
Keep the Pistons below 104 points (play some D)
But Detroit has scored less than 104 points 7 times this season.
According to Stat Muse The Detroit Pistons and the Miami Heat were tied for the most games with fewer than 100 points in the 2022-23 season, with 14 games.
Milwaukee has been able to keep one team under 100 (CHA- 11.17). This could be a “get right game” for the Milwaukee Bucks defense. So far there have been 34 games where teams scored under 100 points. This one could be another!
Look for the Bucks to keep the focus on defense and getting stops. If Detroit scores less than 104 points it is hard to envision Milwaukee not being able to win handedly.
“You go, I go”
The scoring burden seems to fall on Dame and Giannis. So, Giannis certainly had “last game”, setting a Bucks franchise record by scoring 64 points. You know who else on this roster who could score that many? Maybe someone who scored 71 last year?
It appears to be Dame’s time “to go”. If he scores over 30, which he could, then let’s go! (He scored over 30 the last time these teams played.)
Giannis is 3rd in the league right now averaging 32 points a game.
Lillard is 15th in the NBA right now and is averaging 24.8 points a game.
So this game, assuming they both play, should be “you go, I go”- Giannis gets a dunk, Dame gets a 3.
The Opponent: The Detroit Pistons
The season is already over for Detroit. Right now Vegas won’t even give you odds for a Detroit Championship bet meaning they won’t even allow you to waste your money. And that’s Vegas! They usually will always take your money.
Cade Cunningham is back after being injured last season. He scored 33 points in the Pistons loss to Milwaukee on Nov. 8th.
The 22-year old, first overall pick is a budding star. He’ll be a challenge for Milwaukee again. Cunningham, if he can reach his potential, could end up being Giannis Antetokounmpo Jr.
Marcus Sasser had the game of his career when these two teams faced each other last time, scoring 26 points. Usually Sasser comes off the bench and is averaging 7 points a game this year.
Jalen Duren (ankle) has played well and Ausar Thompson has turned heads with his all-around play.
Jalen Duren is an intriguing player for the Pistons. Only 20, Duren is raw and chalk full of talent. Duren fits the mold of what it seems like this team and franchise are trying to do: be the Rockets and Thunder of the East. Acquire tons of first round talent in the hopes one or two of those guys become great NBA players. OKC could even be a top six team in the West this season.
Last game Detroit went with a starting line-up of:
Bojan Bogdanovic (20.6 pts), Cade Cunningham (22.0), Killian Hayes (9.6), Ausar Thompson (10.5), and Isiah Stewart (10.5) at center.
With Bogdanovic back in the fold Detroit should still be a hard-fought team to play. But it just still is not a ton of scoring. If the Bucks and Piston get into some kind of a shoot out, that bodes really well for Milwaukee.
Things to tell your buddies as you are watching the game
- Wilson is the official supplier of NBA game balls. (Retail they go for $200 a piece.)
- A new game ball is used every game and is, again, provided by Wilson.
- Isaiah Thomas is the career scoring leader for the Pistons, who take their name from the influence of the automobile industry on Detroit. (18,822 points).
- May 22, 1968, was the day when Milwaukee’s second professional basketball team finally got a name – the Milwaukee Bucks. More than 14,000 fans participated in a contest to name the team. Records show that R.D. Trebilcox of Whitefish Bay, Wis., was one of 45 people who suggested the name ‘Bucks.’ He saw bucks (male deer) as being spirited, good jumpers, fast and agile. For his efforts in helping Milwaukee’s entry into the professional sports world gain an enduring nickname, Mr. Trebilcox won a new car.
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