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If the Milwaukee Bucks were clinging on to a honeymoon period from their 2021 NBA Championship, they were quickly reminded that there are 31 other teams in the league looking to dethrone them. After making easy work of the Brooklyn Nets in the season opener on Tuesday, the Miami Heat beat Milwaukee by 42 points in the second game of the year. The Thursday night game saw Milwaukee held to under 100 points, something that only happened six times last season, including the playoffs. This week sees the Bucks facing a young team in the East, before a trio of Western Conference contenders come to town. Let’s look at what’s in store.
Monday, October 25 at Indiana (6 p.m., Bally Sports Wisconsin)
The Bucks close out their first road trip of the year on Monday night, meeting former Bucks players Malcolm Brogdon, Torrey Craig and the rest of a young Indiana Pacers lineup. Since being traded to Indiana, Brogdon has become the focal point of Indiana’s offense, augmented by center Domantas Sabonis and guard Caris LeVert in the backcourt. Last season saw the Pacers on the outside looking in, making it to the play-in round of the postseason but failing to make the bracket. The addition of Craig, who saw limited playing time in Milwaukee’s championship run, is part of a larger initiative to develop a contender in the Pacers’ future. Nevertheless, the Bucks will need to close this game out after travelling the majority of the past week before heading back to Fiserv Forum.
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Wednesday, October 27 vs. Minnesota (7 p.m., Bally Sports Wisconsin)
Three games in five days is a lot easier to do from the comfort of home, and that will be the case for the Bucks, when they begin a short home stand against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday night. Minnesota will be coming off of a pair of games with the New Orleans Pelicans before travelling to Milwaukee, which will be their first road game of the year. The Timberwolves bring a trio of solid guards in D’Angelo Russell, Maalik Beasley and Patrick Beverley, all of which will be looking to feed the ball in the paint to center Karl-Anthony Towns. The pieces are there to put a strong team together this year in Minnesota, and they’ll most certainly look to improve upon last year, finishing 13th in the Western Conference with just 23 wins. Look for a tough matchup for Giannis under the basket for much of the game.
Saturday, October 30 vs. San Antonio (7 p.m., Bally Sports Wisconsin)
The Bucks will also play their first set of back-to-back games this weekend, starting off with the San Antonio Spurs in Milwaukee on Saturday night. The Bucks and Spurs will quickly run back this past Saturday night’s game in San Antonio, which saw the Bucks pull away early in the fourth quarter to win 121-111. Khris Middleton and Giannis led the offense on Saturday, but every one of the Bucks’ starters finished with more than 10 points. Jrue Holiday also returned from a foot injury sustained on Thursday in Miami, and he should be back to his full potential by Saturday night, bolstering Milwaukee’s offense.
Sunday, October 31 vs. Utah (6 p.m., NBA TV)
The Bucks close out the weekend with a Halloween night matchup against the Utah Jazz, who were a legitimate title contender in 2020-21. The Jazz have a lineup with several key players, featuring guard Donovan Mitchell, forward Bojan Bogdanovic and center Rudy Gobert all being more than capable of taking over a game for Utah. The Jazz may also be without the services of forward Rudy Gay, who missed the team’s season opener and has been day-to-day since with a foot injury. The Jazz have plenty of depth, however, and their offensive weapons can hurt the Bucks if they are able to use their speed and spread the ball around effectively.
