Milwaukee Bucks: 3 things to watch for as New York Knicks visit Fiserv Forum

Evolving battle of the bigs

With Ersan Ilyasova sidelined following surgery to repair a broken nose, the Bucks’ frontcourt situation is in a state of flux behind Antetokounmpo and Brook Lopez.

Over the past 10 days or so, D.J. Wilson has surfaced like a bolt out of the G League to stake his claim for regular minutes. Wilson has impressed with outstanding defense and capable offense, particularly from behind the three-point line.

Yet just when it seemed as if Wilson may have been set to grab a firm hold on those minutes, Thon Maker produced an excellent showing against the Knicks under the Christmas Day spotlight.

Maker scored 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting, and finished as a +11 in the box score from 15 minutes of play. It’s no secret that Maker can be effective, but on the rollercoaster ride that has been his young career to date, that was certainly a notable peak.

Of course, behind all of this, Christian Wood has once again been assigned to the G League, although he has every right to feel his averages of 28.5 points and 12.4 rebounds per game at that level show him to be deserving of greater NBA run.

That keeps the pressure to perform on both Wilson and Maker, and also leaves an air of uncertainty as to how exactly their minutes will be structured on Thursday.

Regardless, if all three young players continue to play well, the Bucks will gladly accept the headache that comes with trying to find each of them minutes.

The game will be televised on Fox Sports Wisconsin, with tip-off from Fiserv Forum set for 7pm CT on Thursday night.