Game two in the two-game series between Minnesota and the Milwaukee Bucks
The (35-21) Milwaukee Bucks take on the (39-16) Minnesota Timberwolves Friday night on the road at the Target Center in Minneapolis. The Bucks are (3-7) under new Head Coach Doc Rivers. There are 26 games left before the postseason.
The game will be broadcast on local TV (CBS-58). This exciting change comes on the heels of the struggles of Bally’s Sports.
This is the second time this season these two teams have played. Minnesota smoked the Bucks back on February 8th (129-105).
Vegas has the Bucks at a 29% chance to win and 5-point underdogs. Not the best way to start a post-all-star break run.
Related: Guess the Bucks Final Regular Season Record
It looks like everyone is playing in this one except for Khris Middleton. Middleton is listed as “out”.
Milwaukee Bucks keys
Move and Pass the Ball
The Bucks are always going to be a team that can take the ball down and score with just one guy (see Lillard or Giannis). But right now, the team needs to swing the ball around more.
Right now the team averages around 26.7 assists per game. That is 15th in the NBA.
Last season the team averaged 27 assists per game. I get it, “Rudy, this isn’t last year!” The only comeback there however, is that this team still needs to move the ball around more. They also needed to do that last year as well.
As a team, if Milwaukee is over that 27 assists per game number, you’d expect a “W”.
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. This team started off as a high-powered offensive juggernaut; now the club seems to pride itself on great defense. Those two things do not need to be mutually exclusive.
So will we ever see that early, regular season high powered offense again? Milwaukee remains in second, overall, in the NBA in team scoring (122.0 pts per game).
Can Milwaukee’s 2nd ranked offense score against Minnesota’s NBA best defense?
Giannis leads the team in scoring. (30.8 per game)
Damian Lillard is second on the team in scoring (24.6 per game). The Bucks, as a team, are second in the NBA in scoring at 122.0 a game ‘even-steven’. So, my math, then, comes out with Giannis and Dame accounting for 55.4 points a game or just over 45% of the team’s total output.
They need that more balanced attack with loads of points on the “top-end”.
Watch those Turnovers!
This year Milwaukee is 9th in the NBA in team turnovers (12.9 a game). Giannis is the worst here, averaging over 3.5 turnovers per game. But in his defense, many of his turnovers come from his attacking style of play and we don’t want to change that.
Last season the Bucks were 22nd in the NBA in team turnovers (14.6 a game). 1.7 might not seem like a huge difference but improving two possessions a game will bode well for this team in the playoffs.
The Opponent: The Minnesota Timberwolves
Minnesota has looked really good in the first half.
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 (26.2 points per game). He also leads the team in turnovers (3.3 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 22.5 points per game and 8.4 rebounds per game.
Rudy Gobert is finally fitting in with the T-Wolves. Never known as a prolific scorer, Gobert is a rebounding machine (12.5 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
- 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.
- The Bucks are only 12-14 on the road so far this season. Last season they had the best road record of any NBA team in the regular season. They were 26-15 last year on the road.
- Giannis Antetokounmpo has the most assists in Bucks Franchise history with 3,725.
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