The Bucks look for their first win of the season tonight against the Nets, after dropping a kind-of close one Wednesday night against the Hornets to open the season.
Brooklyn Nets (1-1)
- 21-61 last season
- 77-101 against Bucks all-time
- All-time leader in points, rebounds, and minutes played named “Buck”
Offensive Key
The Bucks have to shoot better than they did against Charlotte if they want to win this game. Last time out, they only shot 42% from the field. The main reason they had such a low shooting percentage was because they shot an abysmal 3/16 (19%) from distance. Of course, it’s easy to say that they have to make more shots than that, but I think the main problem was the amount of 3-pointers they shot. This is not a long-range shooting team, and it doesn’t need to be. If they take higher-percentage shots instead of settling for contested 3-pointers, they won’t find themselves trailing by as much, and then won’t feel the need to keep jacking up threes. Thus the vicious cycle will be broken.
Defensive Key
Milwaukee must contain Brook Lopez if they’re going to win this game. In the Nets’ loss this season, Lopez shot 1/7 (14%) from the field for a grand total of 7 points in 21 minutes. In their win, Lopez shot 10/18 (56%) from the field for 25 points in 26 minutes. This is basically the smallest of sample sizes, but it seems like the Nets are going to go as far as Brook Lopez can take them. The Bucks don’t have to hold him to just 7 points, but if they can hold him below 20 or so their odds of winning should go up.
Tune in at 7:00 PM CT on NBA League Pass (which is still free for everyone as an early-season promotion) to see the Bucks try to grab their first win of this very young season!