3 keys as Milwaukee Bucks try to extend win streak against Detroit Pistons

The Milwaukee Bucks need to get out in transition and score easy buckets

Pretty much every year for the last seven years, you could write pencil in that the Bucks would be one of the best transition offenses in the NBA. It’s not hard to figure out why, either. They have Giannis Antetokounmpo and he’s one of the best transition players the league has ever seen.

However, this season, their transition offense hasn’t been the same. Per Cleaning the Glass (subscription required), the Bucks have the 23rd ranked transition offense by points added per play at 2.0. That is their lowest mark since 2007-08!

There isn’t much worry about their offense at the moment, considering they rank in the top ten for offensive rating and are top five in their last 15 games. But that’s largely been due to their half-court offense, which is both good and bad.

It’s good because half-court offense is a largely more transferrable skill in the playoffs when there are fewer transition opportunities. The better a team is at creating offense in the half-court, the more likely they will succeed in the playoffs.

However, being able to get out and run in transition to get easy baskets is a skill that every team needs. They’re actually right around average in terms of transition offense off of a steal but are 22nd in transition efficiency off of live rebounds, which accounts for a large majority of their transition opportunities.

I’m not overly concerned about the Bucks being in the bottom half of the league for transition offense, though.

They still have Antetokounmpo and a lot of it can be due to players being in and out of the lineup. Playing weaker teams like the Pistons will give the Bucks more chances to get out and run off of steals and rebounds, so expect to see some better transition offense in this one.

For all of the talk in the past about how the Bucks would fail in the playoffs because of their half-court offense, they’re sure showing them now!