Milwaukee Bucks: 3 matchups to watch for versus Philadelphia 76ers

Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo will see plenty of Ben Simmons

Both Giannis Antetokounmpo and Ben Simmons share plenty of similarities in their respective skill sets, even while the talent and sheer physicality and power tilts towards the league’s reigning MVP.

And over the years, both forwards have seen plenty of each other as the Bucks and 76ers have squared off against one another over the last few seasons. We shouldn’t expect any different going into Thursday night’s clash.

While Antetokounmpo finished with 32 points on 13-for-22 shooting in that win over the 76ers last month, Simmons held Antetokounmpo to eight points on 2-for-8 shooting and four turnovers across 37.5 partial possessions, per NBA.com/stats. And make no mistake, the 76ers’ frontcourt has plenty of size and strength to make life tough for Antetokounmpo when getting to the cup, whether it’s Embiid, Simmons and Dwight Howard.

Considering Antetokounmpo is one week removed from having returned from the longest absence of his career and suffered a cramp last time out in the Bucks’ loss to the Phoenix Suns, we’ll have to see what his workload looks like.

Even with all of that in mind, this is the two-time MVP we’re talking about and like Embiid, Antetokounmpo hasn’t been rusty in his first few games back.

Now how the Bucks look to handle Simmons defensively may go beyond just throwing Antetokounmpo on him. The Bucks haven’t been afraid to using Holiday on bigger, athletic forwards of Simmons’ profile. No matter how it shakes out, how Antetokounmpo and Simmons both lead their teams will dictate the outcome of such a pivotal meeting.