Milwaukee Bucks: 3 things to watch for versus Chicago Bulls

How the Milwaukee Bucks will take away the Bulls’ attack

While the Bucks’ defensive play has been a sore spot to start the year, we’ve certainly seen the brilliance of adding an All-Defensive caliber player like Jrue Holiday five games into the season.

Now as the Bucks look to translate their defensive potential into a something more tangible, Holiday will certainly loom large in the Bucks being able to take away the Bulls’ most established scorer, Zach LaVine.

The label of “good stats, bad team guy” has followed LaVine into the prime of his career, but there’s no question his scoring prowess is something the Bucks are looking to neutralize. Naturally, having Holiday primarily check LaVine first comes to mind, but that’s not the only scoring threat Chicago has that is of interest to the Bucks.

Second-year Bulls guard Coby White showed the proclivity to break down the Bucks’ defense with his hot 3-point shooting as he averaged 16.6 points and shot 13-of-28 (46.4 percent) through the four-game season series last year. His pure shooting and shiftiness could really test Donte DiVincenzo, whose defensive strengths primarily shine off the ball.

Rounding it all out with the pick-and-pop prowess of Bulls seven-foot sharpshooter, Lauri Markkanen, the Bucks’ drop-back defense could surely be tested depending on how the Finnish big man shoots on the night.

For as many threats and ways the Bulls could give the Bucks’ defense some headaches, their offense has started slow out of the gates as they rank 18th in offensive efficiency through their first five games, per NBA.com/stats. Facing against that kind of middle of the road offense like Chicago has could be music to the Bucks’ ears as they shore up their defensive deficiencies to start the year.