The Milwaukee Bucks will be searching for their third straight victory when they make a visit to the Big Easy and take on the New Orleans Pelicans Friday night.
While the two sides had previously met over the preseason, tonight will be a special occasion for a couple of reasons. It gives both Jrue Holiday and former Bucks guard Eric Bledsoe to face up against their former clubs after being dealt for one another over the offseason.
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Now as Milwaukee looks to continue their three-game road swing, the Pelicans will be looking to stem the tide as they have a 6-10 record on the season.
The Pelicans had been losers of three straight games before picking up a much-needed 124-106 victory over the hapless Washington Wizards on Wednesday night.
So without further ado, let’s look at three keys that will ensure a Milwaukee Bucks victory when they meet against the New Orleans Pelicans.
First key to victory over Pelicans – Milwaukee Bucks win the paint battle
The chess match between the Bucks and the Pelicans all starts with who gets the better of one another in the painted area.
The Bucks have spent the Mike Budenholzer era building one of the most vaunted interior defenses the NBA has seen in recent history. While Milwaukee isn’t as elite as they have been in the last two seasons specifically, the Bucks still remain at their best protecting the paint by surrendering the second-fewest opposing paint points per game (40.6) in the league.
New Pelicans head coach Stan Van Gundy, whose pedigree has come from building similar defenses in his previous stints around the league, has set up a similar blueprint in his nascent stewardship down in New Orleans. In fact, the Pelicans almost follow directly behind the Bucks as they allow 41.8 opposing paint points per game, good for fourth in the NBA.
However, for as stout as they are in protecting the rim in terms of limiting points, opponents are finishing 68.2 percent of their shots in the restricted area when going against the Pelicans this season, per NBA.com/stats.
Considering that both the Bucks and the Pelicans have some of the most prolific interior scorers in Giannis Antetokounmpo and Zion Williamson, which will surely test both defenses and their respective rim protectors. And that’s certainly not where the similarities end for these two teams.