Three-Point Parade Against Houston
After a distressing drubbing by the Philadelphia 76ers on Monday 113-104, the
Milwaukee Bucks hope they can stave off the three-point barrage of the Houston
Rockets tonight, who are coming off a tight loss to the depleted Miami Heat,
109-103. Bucks UpdateMilwaukee losses to the Atlanta Hawks and Philadelphia
76ers on back-to-back days featured two of their poorest performances of the
season. A Bucks’ defense that was once ranked in the top-ten has now slid to
15th at 105.4. Additionally, whatever supernatural skill they used to force
opponents to miss three-pointers seems to have dissipated, with Milwaukee
three-point defense now ranked 12th at 35.6%.That regression was on full display
against Philadelphia, who launched up a whopping 37 three-pointers, connecting
on fourteen of them for 37.8% shooting. Those fourteen happened to be as many
three-pointers as the Bucks attempted on the day, and Milwaukee now shot the
least number of threes in the league, 19.2, over the past ten games. Here Eric
and Frank preview of tonight game on Locked on Bucks, discussing plenty of
insightful strategies including whether the Bucks may go small against Houston
sometimes diminutive frontcourt.Giannis still starred in the Atlanta game, and
looked like a dynamo in the first half against Philadelphia with 21 points
before petering out in the second half Greg Monroe
Jersey, going -17 while battling foul trouble. It was a troubling loss all
around, with Joel Embiid ability to bully Milwaukee bigs and get to the free
throw line hampering the team all afternoon. Houston center position doesn stack
up quite as well, with Clint Capela just returning from an injury and Nene or
Montrezl Harrell being simply competent backups. Milwaukee will have to contain
themselves from fouling James Harden though, who leads the league in free throw
attempts per game at 10.5. Lastly, their defense will have to tighten up against
the three happy Rockets https://www.bucksfansstore.com/Ray_Allen_Jersey-20,
particularly after leaving players wide open far too often against
Philadelphia.Rockets UpdateHouston success has been one of the more impressive
developments of the NBA season, with their presumed suspect defense cobbling
together an 18th ranked defensive rating at 105.7. That may not seem superb, but
when the team is scoring at the third most efficient mark in the league, one
only needs an average defense to win plenty of games. Despite their loss to the
Heat last night, the Rockets are still 7-3 in their last ten. They also
attempted merely 39 attempts from three against Miami, one below their season
average, so theyl be looking for any excuse to launch from deep tonight
especially if Ryan Anderson returns from his illness.The offense is a dizzying
delight under the oversight of new coach Mike D’Antoni. D’Antoni empowered James
Harden to be the primary ball handler before the season, and it paid dividends,
with Harden putting up MVP-level numbers at Per-36 marks of 28 points, 8.1
rebounds and a whopping 11.5 assists. He fifth in the league with a 34% usage,
but maintains an absurd 28.5% assist percentage, 61.1% true shooting percentage
and a 7.4 net rating. Around him, the Rockets powered up their perimeter attack
with the gunning duo of Eric Gordon and Ryan Anderson Thon Maker
Jersey, who are both shooting 40.3% from deep on nine and 6.9 three attempts
per game respectively. They are indicative of the Rockets’ taking Moreyball to
maximalist levels this year, shooting a league leading 40 attempts from three
per game , with only 7.6 attempts from the midrange. Houston even reached 61
three-point attempts earlier this year against the New Orleans Pelicans. With
the Bucks’ scheme effectively designed to allow threes, tonight affair could be
an, interesting, exercise in their defensive ability https://www.bucksfansstore.com. Eric
Gordon left last night game with an injury, but did return. Ryan Anderson was
out with an illness, and there no word yet on whether hel give it a go tonight.
Clint Capela returned against the Heat after missing 15 straight games, and
seems to be set to start again tonight.
↧