Milwaukee Bucks: Analyzing Malcolm Brogdon/Kyle Lowry Matchup
By Adam McGee
Head-to-Head
Brogdon and Lowry came head-to-head three times this season, but the playoffs will mark the first game where both men will have been directly matched up against each other as starters. As a result, there’s something of a blank slate for this contest.
Lowry played excellently in three appearances against Milwaukee this year, before missing the teams’ final clash due to injury. Against the Bucks on the season, Lowry is averaging 23 points on 50 percent from the field and 52.4 percent from deep, albeit with lower assists and higher turnover marks than his overall season average.
In assessing the problems Lowry has caused the Bucks this season, it’s important to note that not only has he never faced Brogdon as a direct, starting opponent, but he has yet to play against Khris Middleton this year. You just have to look at the journey from lottery bound team before Middleton’s return, to the sixth seed readying to face Toronto now to realize how important that factor is.
On the other end of the scale, Brogdon struggled a little against the Raptors, averaging only 8.3 points, 2.3 rebounds and 2.3 assists in four games.
In the two teams’ final meeting of the season where Milwaukee grabbed their only win of the series, Brogdon started and caused the Canadian club a host of problems.
The rookie finished that game with 17 points, five rebounds and three assists, while shooting 46.2 percent from the field. Was that a result of the greater influence he exerted as a starter, or was it because he was going up against a Lowry-less Raptors team?
Saturday should help to set the record straight.