Milwaukee Bucks: 3 key things to watch for against Detroit Pistons
Things aren’t going too well for the defending champion Milwaukee Bucks at the moment! They’ve lost three in a row and all of those games came at home, being swept on their three-game homestand. So what better way to start six of seven on the road than going against a division rival in the Detroit Pistons!
Milwaukee is 3-4 and under 0.500 for the first time since December 30th, 2020 when they began the season 2-3. There is a marginal level of concern, but the Bucks have struggled mightily with injuries in the early part of the season, leading to some undermanned lineups like against the Jazz with four of their five starters from last season missing the game.
If there’s a silver lining, it’s that the Pistons have very much struggled to begin the season, sitting at 1-5 after picking up their first win this past weekend. They have been without number one overall pick Cade Cunningham for all but one game this season, but he should be in the lineup for the Pistons tonight.
The Milwaukee Bucks will need to get their offense back on track against the Detroit Pistons
Due in large part to injuries to many of their key offensive pieces such as Jrue Holiday, Brook Lopez, and Bobby Portis, the Bucks offense has gotten off to a rocky start to begin the season. They’ve been held under 100 points in three of their first seven games this season, after being held under 100 points in only four games total last season.
But that’s what happens without a lot of key players. Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton can’t carry the offense all on their own, they need some of the role players around them to get going. Grayson Allen snapped out of his 3-point funk with a hot shooting night against the Utah Jazz and it would be huge if they could get more nights like that with Holiday and Lopez out.
Another name who needs to get going offensively, and I didn’t think I’d need to say this, is Jordan Nwora. The sophomore wing is averaging 8.4 points per game while shooting 30.3 percent from 3-point range and posting a well-below average 44.7 percent true shooting percentage. The big questions surrounding Nwora were about his defense, playmaking, and pretty much everything except scoring, but that’s where he’s struggled the most so far. It’s just unfortunate timing for Nwora to be going through a shooting slump when the Bucks need his scoring more than they anticipated.
Getting Bobby Portis back was big for the offense and he looked closer to what we saw from him last season in the game against the Jazz with 15 points and five boards (two of them on the offensive glass). There are obviously brighter days ahead for the offense and there’s no need to panic, but right now they look stuck in the mud while missing a few key pieces.