Bucks Basketball on a Monday Night
The (25-11) Milwaukee Bucks take on the (17-20) Utah Jazz on Monday Night at home. The Fiserv Forum should be rocking! The game tips off at 7pm. This will be Utah’s only visit to Milwaukee. The Bucks play the Jazz in Utah on February 4th.
The Bucks are 16-3 at home.
Milwaukee is coming off a “flat” loss against an improved Houston Rockets team (112-108). Giannis led the way with 48 points. At times it felt like he was Milwaukee’s entire offense. Brook Lopez had a real tough game, only scoring 7 points. Malik Beasley also had a tough night scoring 3 points. The Bucks, as a team, just played kinda “blah”.
Damian Lillard is out tonight for “personal reasons”. Thoughts and prayers go out to him.
The Jazz have been very up and down of late. They beat the 76er’s but then lost to New Orleans and Minnesota and Memphis. They are not a great road team at 6-15.
Vegas has the Bucks at a 78% chance to win and 11 ½ point favorites.
Related: Duds and Studs in the lose to Houston
Milwaukee Bucks Key to Win
Get better play from their starters.
The Bucks only managed 18 points in the first quarter against the Rockets and then followed that up with 25 points in the second quarter. They just could not hit their shots. It did not look good.
Brook Lopez was 1-6 from three. Khris Middleton only managed 10 points.
Let’s see Milwaukee come out with some energy and play with some passion.
Box-Out (Rebound the Ball)
The game against Houston and San Antonio had guys just slapping at the ball. Milwaukee only managed 37 rebounds against the Rockets. Against the Jazz, who are an excellent rebounding team (3rd in the NBA), Milwaukee better hit that glass.
Right now Milwaukee is 11th in the NBA (44.3) in team rebounding.
There is close to a two-rebound per game difference in home games vs road games for Milwaukee. For Milwaukee to win this game, they’ll need to be at/above that 44 rebound number.
No Dame Time
Damian Lillard is a great NBA player. He is out against Utah. Who is going to step it up?
Whoever it is needs to attack the basket in the same way Lillard does.
Damian Lillard will miss Milwaukee's Monday night game with the Utah Jazz for personal reasons. #FearTheDeer
— Bally Sports Wisconsin (@BallySportWI) January 8, 2024
The Opponent: Utah Jazz
After dealing center Rudy Gobert and star guard Donovan Mitchell, the team has undergone quite a transformation.
At (17-20) the Jazz feel right about where they should be. Rebuilding.
Their new leading scorer came over in the Mitchell trade. Lauri Markkanen is having an awesome year. He is long and rangy and can score. (23.6) The Jazz also got three unprotected first round picks in the deal.
Collin Sexton is also playing well. Sexton, along with Jordan Clarkson, man the point guard position for the Jazz.
John Collins is the power forward for Utah. He is strong and can rebound but has the reputation as someone who could be traded at a moment’s notice because of his hefty contract.
Talen Horton-Tucker has flown under the NBA radar, but he is also having a nice season. The former Laker adds some nice depth to a team that has a strong bench.
Things to tell your buddies as you’re watching the game
- It isn’t that there is more or less “Jazz” in Utah. The Jazz started out as the New Orleans Jazz in 1974. They moved to Utah in 1979.
- It is hard to not play the Jazz and skip over the infamous Stockton/Malone connection. John Stockton leads the NBA, all-time, with 15,806 assists. In second place is Jason Kidd.
- Utah is 5th in the NBA in free-throw shooting percentage (81.9%). Milwaukee is 19th (77.8%).
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