Milwaukee Bucks Game Preview: April 2 vs Dallas Mavericks

Player To Watch: Harrison Barnes

Harrison Barnes may have been a fourth/fifth option on the Golden State Warriors last season, but he’s spent the entirety of this campaign with the Mavericks proving he can do more than shoot corner threes.

Barnes is leading this Dallas team in scoring this season on an impressive 19.4 point per game clip. He’s doing that while being fluid in terms of his position–Barnes played a lot of stretch four early on, but now he’s back to the three with the addition of Noel.

In a somewhat surprising development for someone so new to carrying a team on offense, Barnes has been pretty consistent this season. He’s put up 30 or more points six times, while scoring less than 10 points only five times this season. Every player will have highs and lows, but Barnes has kept his to a minimum, scoring 15 or more points 80 percent of the time as a Maverick.

Barnes has, in another surprise, kept his shooting efficiency despite his vastly increased usage rate this season. While scoring nearly eight full points more per game, Barnes’ field goal percentage has remained exactly the same, while his three-point percentage dropped from 38.3 percent to 34.4 percent. That kind of drop is expected when the best shooter on the team changes from Stephen Curry to Seth Curry.

If any Maverick is going to give the Bucks defense trouble, it will be Harrison Barnes. Hopefully Giannis can bring his A game on defense.