Milwaukee Bucks: 3 crucial things to watch for against Utah Jazz
After a tough loss last night to the San Antonio Spurs, the Milwaukee Bucks will have the chance to get back to above 0.500 tonight against the Utah Jazz. It’s not going to be easy against one of the league’s best teams over the last couple of seasons and the team that held the NBA’s best record last season.
It’s been a tough last few seasons for the Bucks under head coach Mike Budenholzer against the Jazz, going a combined 2-4 against them in the last three seasons. That includes a season series sweep at the hands of Utah last season, so Milwaukee will be looking to buck that trend tonight.
The Bucks were relatively solid on the second half of back-to-backs last season, going 8-6 in 14 games, tied for the sixth-best record on no rest last season with the Philadelphia 76ers. The Jazz had the best record on back-to-backs at 12-2, but they’ll be traveling after losing to the Chicago Bulls. The benefit for the Bucks is that the game will be at home so they won’t have to worry about travel but it’s still a very tough opponent, regardless of days rest.
Who will rest for the Milwaukee Bucks against the Utah Jazz on the second night of a back-to-back?
One of the most important things for the Bucks the last few seasons has been not overexerting their players, especially on back-to-backs. After resting Bobby Portis on the first half of the back-to-back for injury recovery management last night, it’s fair to assume that Semi Ojeleye will be rested tonight.
I’m sure the Bucks would like to give a day off to their stars in Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton, as they’ve both played heavy minutes in the first six games of the season. However, with both Brook Lopez and Jrue Holiday still out for the game tonight, it doesn’t appear as though they’ll be getting a much-needed and well-deserved rest day tonight.
That being said, it is something to look ahead to and be anticipating in the near future as it’s unlikely they’ll continue to play their two healthy stars this much after a condensed offseason where Middleton played in the Olympics and Antetokounmpo was recovering from his knee injury.
Aside from those two, a veteran like George Hill could see a day of rest soon and even Rodney Hood who also is coming off a recent injury like Portis and Ojeleye. They haven’t been able to rest players as much as they’d like this early in the season but it’s a long year and they’ll be able to get rest days throughout the season once everyone is back and relatively healthy.