Milwaukee Bucks: 3 things to watch for as San Antonio Spurs visit

Making the math count

Considering the formative role Popovich played in Budenholzer’s coaching career, and the many ways in which the pair’s philosophies mirror, it’s interesting that this contest may well be decided by the element of the game where their thinking completely diverges.

The Bucks’ let it fly philosophy couldn’t be much more different to how the Spurs approach the game, and with that in mind, it offers Milwaukee a route to a very notable advantage on Saturday night.

Milwaukee’s 38.8 three-point attempts per game ranks fourth in the NBA, where at just 27 triples taken per game, nobody attempts fewer long range attempts than the Spurs.

Even just on the two teams’ averages when it comes to makes, that could count for a 12-point advantage for Milwaukee from distance, which against a team as dominant as the Bucks would seem close to impossible to make up in a variety of other ways.

Unless the Bucks have a particularly disastrous shooting effort, or the Spurs find their own outlier success in that department, San Antonio could really have their work cut out for them.

The Bucks’ clash with the Spurs will tip-off at 7.30pm CT on Saturday night from Fiserv Forum.