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Milwaukee Bucks
Last week Monday was a sign of important changes for the Milwaukee Bucks. While they had began the season with the NBA’s best record, that quickly became turbulent, due in part to injury issues with Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jrue Holiday. Fortunately, though, both names are off of the official injury report, and they’re joined back on the floor by guard Pat Connaughton, who made his season debut on Monday night in a win against the Portland Trail Blazers. Even more encouraging, guards Wesley Matthews and Khris Middleton scrimmaged in Oshkosh with the Bucks’ developmental team, the Wisconsin Herd, with promising signs for Middleton to begin his 2022-23 NBA season in the near future.
In the modern NBA, having a core of three superstars is the model for building a franchise into a championship contender, and the Bucks have effectively done so with Giannis, Middleton and Holiday. However, Milwaukee rolled to the best start in franchise history without those three touching the floor at the same time together so far this year. The regular season is an 82-game haul, though, and Milwaukee will benefit greatly from having more veteran stars healthy. Though the second and third units have played above average, having options when games come down to the wire will be key, especially later in the year when wins seem to hold more weight headed towards May and hopefully June. Milwaukee pulled away on Monday night to a good team victory, and will look to repeat that gameplan as they begin to match up with other teams that have also found their rhythm in the middle of the season. Here’s what lies ahead:
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Wednesday, November 30 at New York (6:30 p.m., Bally Sports Wisconsin)
The week begins with a one-game road trip, with a mid-week matchup against the New York Knicks. These teams already met one another early in the season at Fiserv Forum, with Milwaukee coming out on top as part of their season-starting win streak. Giannis led the way for the Bucks in that game, with 30 points and just one assist shy of posting yet another triple-double. Both Milwaukee and New York had seven players score in double figures in that 119-108 win for the Bucks, though Milwaukee led for three quarters of the game. Expect another offensive show, as New York brings a healthy roster of names that are just a year or two away from realizing their full potential. Wednesday night in Madison Square Garden will undoubtedly be a show.
Friday, December 2 vs. Los Angeles Lakers (6:30 p.m, ESPN)
The Bucks then return home on Friday to face the Los Angeles Lakers, who are just one of the many franchises with superstars in the NBA who can’t seem to put the pieces together this year. LeBron James returned from a groin injury last week, but the Lakers seem stagnant with or without the living legend in the lineup. Los Angeles are teetering near the bottom of the Western Conference, and these two teams won’t meet again until a return game in Los Angeles on February 9. All eyes will be on the matchup of LeBron vs. Giannis, which has attracted the national spotlight. It feels wrong to say that a game against the Lakers should be a comfortable win for Milwaukee, but so far this year, that appears to be the case.
Saturday, December 3 at Charlotte (5 p.m., Bally Sports Wisconsin)
The week closes out for Milwaukee with back-to-back games, complete with an overnight flight in between. While the matchup is a bit lower profile, the Bucks will head to Charlotte for a contest with the Hornets that should play like a showcase of the league’s rising stars. The Hornets will be without star guard LaMelo Ball, but Kelly Oubre Jr. and Terry Rozier have more than made up for his absence in the early going for Charlotte this year. The Bucks and Hornets split last year’s season series, though, and will meet again twice in January. While it isn’t exactly having Milwaukee’s number, the young Hornets team does know how to steal games away from the Bucks. We’ll see how things shake out at the beginning of this season’s series on Saturday night.
