Milwaukee Bucks: Takeaways from 107-95 win over Philadelphia 76ers

The wonder from Down Under

Matthew Dellavedova’s contract and the way Milwaukee’s point guard dynamics have changed since he arrived as a free agent make the Australian an easy target for criticism at times, but the fact is the veteran guard has offered the Bucks really solid contributions when he’s stepped on the floor this season.

On Monday, Delly’s contributions were more obvious, as he played 26 minutes coming off the bench and finished with a team-high plus/minus of +17.

Dellavedova’s positive impact was driven by 10 points, three assists and two steals, while shooting 3-of-6 from the field and 2-of-4 from deep.

While many may not have noticed, that kind of positive shooting has been very much in line with the 27-year-old’s shooting throughout the year. Dellavedova is shooting 39.4 percent from deep this season, and making 90.9 percent of his attempts from the charity stripe.

The spacing that comes from a reliable shooter, like Dellavedova has been this season, is enough to earn meaningful minutes as is, but it’s his passing that may be his most important contribution to Milwaukee.

Dellavedova is seen encouraging ball swings more than any other Buck in his time on the court, and as he’s currently on pace for a career-high 10.3 assists per 100 possessions, while still maintaining his usual efficiency with an assist to turnover ratio of 3.05, it’s fair to say the Aussie’s good play should be getting a little more attention this year.

If he can produce some more surprising highlight plays like he did on Monday, that may well come to fruition too.