Can the Milwaukee Bucks shooters get going against the Oklahoma City Thunder?
It may surprise you to learn (or it may not, I don’t know you) that the Milwaukee Bucks are in the top ten in 3-point percentage so far this season at 35.3 percent as a team. It certainly doesn’t feel that way with how some of the Bucks’ best shooters have shot the ball so far this season.
Jrue Holiday and Khris Middleton are both at or under 30 percent and while Holiday isn’t as good of a shooter as Middleton, it is still a surprise to see him hovering around that mark. Bobby Portis is shooting 32.5 percent from 3 while both Jordan Nwora and George Hill are shooting around 34 percent. All solid marks but below where they should be at.
The overall team number is being carried by Grayson Allen (42.9 percent on over eight attempts per game) and Pat Connaughton (39.4 percent on over six attempts per game). Rodney Hood is around 40 percent as well but he hasn’t taken enough shots to make much of a dent in the team number.
The good news for the Bucks shooters is that they should have plenty of chances to let it fly against the Thunder as they allow the fourth-most 3-point attempts at around 40 per game. The Bucks also have generated a ton of wide-open 3s so far this season and that’s one of the key points of optimism during their slow start.
3-point shooting can be incredibly random and vary game-to-game, but with the number of good shooters that the Bucks have, they should be doing a bit better than the results they’ve been getting when you consider their process. Then again, I guess that can be the sentiment held for the entire team to this point: better than what they’ve shown so far.
The Bucks’ 3-point shooting and defense at the rim will be key points of emphasis tonight against a young but competitive Thunder squad.