Milwaukee Bucks Game Preview: Oct. 21 vs Portland Trail Blazers

By Ti Windisch | Oct 21, 2017

PORTLAND, OR - MARCH 21: Damian Lillard #0 of the Portland Trail Blazers shoots a lay up against the Milwaukee Bucks on March 21, 2017 at the Moda Center in Portland, Oregon. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Cameron Browne/NBAE via Getty Images) /

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PORTLAND, OR – MARCH 21: (Photo by Sam Forencich/NBAE via Getty Images) /

Major key for Portland – Attack inside

The Milwaukee Bucks have a versatile defense thanks to starting five players who all have some sort of ability to switch across positions, but Milwaukee’s defense has a glaring weakness down low. With Thon Maker starting and John Henson and Greg Monroe playing from the bench, the Bucks tend to be weak in the paint.

Boston scored 50 points from the painted area against the Bucks even without Gordon Hayward, and Cleveland managed to add 64 paint points to their overall total on Friday night. Getting Dame and McCollum hot from outside will be important for the Blazers, and there’s no better way to get those guys space than causing damage inside.

That effort is going to start and end with Jusuf Nurkic. As much trouble as the Bosnian Beast might have chasing Thon around the perimeter, Nurkic can gain an advantage around the basket on offense.

Nurkic’s season numbers aren’t super impressive from last year due to the time he spent not playing as much for the Denver Nuggets. In 20 games with the Blazers, though, Nurkic averaged 15.2 points, 10.4 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.9 blocks per game.

He’ll be a problem for the Bucks, although he won’t be the biggest problem the Portland Trail Blazers present.

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