Milwaukee Bucks Game Preview: March 10 vs Indiana Pacers

Major Key For Milwaukee: Stay Small

The Milwaukee Bucks current starting lineup is working for the same reason that Mirza Teletovic always has a great plus/minus despite him struggling lately–spacing is a killer. Even though Teletovic’s shot is off right now, would you want to leave him wide open as a defender?

I wouldn’t, and neither would most defenders. They’re smart to do so–Mirza shoots 36.8 percent from deep when he’s wide open, 39.0 percent when he’s open and 22.2 percent when he’s got a defender within two-to-four feet from him, as per data available on NBA.com.

A lot of good offense is about threats. Mirza Teletovic is shooting just 34.4 percent from deep this season, but the threat of him shooting an open three is enough to force defenses to account for him, just as the threat of Giannis driving means opposing defenders have an eye on him all the time, even if they’re not directly on him.

The combination of those two things–needing to keep an eye on a shooter and needing to account for Giannis at all times–is why the Bucks small starting lineup works so well. Playing four shooters and Giannis together means defenses can’t leave anybody alone outside, but most of the time Giannis’ primary defender needs some help containing him.

Either the help never comes and the Greek Freak gets a one-on-one, or somebody either commits to helping or thinks about it for too long, allowing another Buck to get open. The idea is simple, but it’s effective.

That Bucks small starting lineup of Malcom Brogdon, Tony Snell, Khris Middleton, Giannis and Thon Maker is outscoring opponents by 18.8 points per 100 possessions over this four-game win streak. Even when Michael Beasley returns, Milwaukee might want to stick with this group of starters.