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It took all of one night for the Milwaukee Bucks to be put into a clutch situation to begin their season. On Thursday, they found themselves in a dramatic final minute, on national television, against a tough conference opponent in the Philadelphia 76ers. A big three-pointer from Wes Matthews, coupled with a defensive stop to prevent James Harden from winning the game for Philadelphia allowed the Bucks to escape Wells Fargo Arena with a winning record. Saturday night’s home opener was quite the opposite situation, with Giannis Antetokounmpo’s 44 points leading to a lopsided victory against the Houston Rockets. Both wins get the Bucks moving in the right direction, with hopefully more on the way.
The Bucks will not travel for another game until November, thanks to an early gift from the NBA’s scheduling committee. A five-game home stand, complete with four days of rest before their next contest doesn’t really reflect the grind of the NBA regular season, but it does work in Milwaukee’s favor while looking to get a jump on the rest of the Eastern Conference. Here is what is in store for the week.
Wednesday, October 26 vs. Brooklyn (6:30 p.m., ESPN)
While the Bucks will be at home for some time, that doesn’t mean they will be playing soft teams at the start of the year. Wednesday’s matchup with the Brooklyn Nets puts Milwaukee back in the national spotlight, with Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving coming to town to test Milwaukee’s duo of Giannis and Jrue Holiday. The Bucks are still without Khris Middleton, but Brooklyn’s third star component, Ben Simmons, is off to a cold start to the year so far. Milwaukee hosted the Nets just two weeks prior to this contest in the preseason, but obviously the intensity picks up when the games actually count. Expect a show from both sets of star players in this one, with Milwaukee looking to put away another Eastern Conference contender.
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Friday, October 28 vs. New York (7 p.m., Bally Sports Wisconsin)
The longer-tenured New York team, the Knicks, will come to Fiserv Forum this Friday, and will have a lot to prove in the early going of the 2022-23 season. So far, the Knicks have lost an overtime game to Ja Morant and the Memphis Grizzlies, followed by a convincing win over the Detroit Pistons in their home opener. A constantly-rebuilding Knicks franchise had some big acquisitions this summer, including guard Jalen Brunson, who is already beginning to gel in head coach Tom Thibodeau’s system so far. Expect a scrappier game on Friday, the young Knicks giving the Bucks a run for their money.
Saturday, October 29 vs. Atlanta, (7 p.m., Bally Sports Wisconsin)
Milwaukee will wrap up their first back-to-back games of the season on Saturday night, when a team they’ve seen often recently will come to town. The Bucks dropped a pair of preseason games to Trae Young and the Atlanta Hawks in Abu Dhabi, but again, things are entirely different in the regular season. The Hawks were a thorn in the Bucks’ side last season, dropping two of three games in their season series. Friday night’s contest with New York will dictate what type of Bucks team takes the floor on Saturday, but look for Milwaukee to pick up the intensity for a team that they will see again just nine days later in Atlanta.
