Milwaukee Bucks Game Preview: April 4 at Oklahoma City Thunder
By Ti Windisch
Major Key For Milwaukee: Get The Bench Involved
It isn’t hard to see which part of the Bucks dropped the ball in their last game against Dallas. Milwaukee’s starters each recorded 11 or more points, and out of that group only Khris Middleton shot below 50 percent from the field.
No Bucks bench player scored more than six points in that game, with both Greg Monroe and Jason Terry reaching that mark. Part of that can be traced to Jason Kidd playing a lot of players hardly any minutes, but regardless of the reason the bench needs to contribute more.
Bench production will be vital against the Thunder. Oklahoma City is a strong team–except for when Westbrook is getting rest during a game. The Thunder outscore teams by 3.2 points per 100 possessions with Westbrook on the court. That’s not a huge figure, but it’s a positive one at least.
When Westbrook sits, Oklahoma City gets outscored by 9.8 points per 100 possessions. That is a huge number. If Milwaukee’s bench fails to capitalize on the 13 or so minutes he’s on the bench per game, the Thunder will have a huge advantage in this one.