Volume from distance has long been a staple of what the Milwaukee Bucks do offensively, but their three-point percentage has taken a notable jump of late too.
For as much conversation is dedicated to the Milwaukee Bucks’ three-point shooting, and their core principles of spacing, the truth is very little of that has been tied to the team’s efficiency from beyond the arc.
The Bucks bludgeon their opponents from deep with volume, making more than their fair share of triples as a result, and simultaneously opening up the floor for elite drivers such as Giannis Antetokounmpo and Eric Bledsoe to get to the rim.
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Milwaukee ranks third behind only the Houston Rockets and Dallas Mavericks in terms of both three-point attempts and three-point makes per game, but their standing in terms of efficiency is nowhere near those kind of lofty heights.
The Bucks are shooting 35.6 percent from deep for the season to date, which places them squarely in the middle of the pack at 16th among all NBA teams.
As I’ll touch on shortly, that number is even more impressive as things had been much less palatable just a month ago.
For the month of November, the Bucks shot just 34.5 percent from deep, which left them ranked 23rd in the league overall. Considering how the Bucks’ roster has been constructed, that kind of output was far from convincing even if the Bucks finished November at 15-1 and clearly were left unbothered by the hit-and-miss nature of their shooting.
The good news is the Bucks have started December red-hot from distance, and also finished November on a clear upward curve from deep.
Over their last 10 games, the Bucks have averaged 37.9 percent from distance, which is good enough for the seventh best mark in the NBA over that spell. If you taper that stretch down game by game from 10 to 5, interestingly, the Bucks climb the league-wide rankings one spot with each passing game too.
That improvement has been helped along by important role players such as George Hill and Ersan Ilyasova both shooting over 50 percent from distance, with Hill continuing his absurdly efficient overall season to date from three (51.6 percent).
Beyond that, Khris Middleton‘s return from injury to shoot over 40 percent has given the team a welcome boost, as has Wesley Matthews and D.J. Wilson both knocking down 44 percent of their triples on a healthy volume of attempts.
Giannis Antetokounmpo is leading the team in attempts at 5.7 per game in that span, and his ability to knock down a respectable 33.3 percent of those shots is undoubtedly a game changer for the Bucks.
Perhaps most surprising and interesting of all, though, is the trio of players who bring up the rear in terms of percentage over that span.
All shooting between 29.3 and 29.7 percent, Brook Lopez, Kyle Korver, and Donte DiVincenzo are the Bucks’ most out of form shooters at present, something that certainly doesn’t mesh with the reputation most would associate with those players.
With that, there’s reason to believe there could still be stronger patches ahead for the Bucks in terms of three-point shooting. On the whole, there’s certainly an argument to be made that they’ve underachieved in that department so far this year.
If that proves to be the case, and this recent spell can prove to be closer to their average over the remainder of the campaign, an already formidable Bucks’ squad will only get even better.