Milwaukee Bucks: 3 crucial things to watch for against Utah Jazz

Someone needs to step up along with Giannis Antetokounmpo for the Milwaukee Bucks against the Utah Jazz

After struggling from 3 to begin the season but still nailing his midrange looks, Khris Middleton had a stinker offensively against the Spurs last night when he scored 19 points on 21 shots. He went 2-of-7 from 3 and only took (and made) a single free throw.

The 3-point struggles for Middleton aren’t much to be concerned about, but if the Bucks want to get back above 0.500 then they’ll need their second star to get going. Giannis Antetokounmpo has shown a huge improvement in his 3-point and free-throw shooting so far this season, but the team sits at 3-3 because he simply hasn’t gotten the help he’s needed from Middleton and the available role players.

Players like Grayson Allen and Jordan Nwora need to get going offensively if they want to put this early rough patch behind them as a team. Specifically for Nwora, he is being given a huge chance to earn a real rotation spot for the rest of the season, but he has been squandering it by not doing the thing that we all expected not to have to worry about: score.

Sure it’s relatively unfair to ask these role players to pick up too much of a scoring load, but that’s the position they’re in without two of their four best players in Holiday and Lopez. It’s certainly a caveat in the Bucks’ early struggles but if they want to repeat as champions, they can’t look this bad while having the majority of their roster healthy.

The Bucks will look to avoid getting swept on their first extended homestand of the season and falling below 0.500 as defending champions.