3 things to watch in Milwaukee Bucks rematch against Chicago Bulls

Jan 21, 2022; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; Michael McLoone-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 21, 2022; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; Michael McLoone-USA TODAY Sports
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Milwaukee Bucks: Khris Middleton, Donte DiVincenzo. Chicago Bulls: Zach LaVine
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How will the Milwaukee Bucks handle defending the Chicago Bulls’ dangerous wing duo?

There may not be a better wing scoring duo (or just scoring overall, honestly) in the league this season than LaVine and DeRozan. Milwaukee was able to avoid the two of them together in their first meeting, but likely won’t be as lucky tonight.

One thing that may help is that the Bulls will be coming off a game last night, on the road against the Atlanta Hawks, so there will be some fatigue there for the two of them.

It will still be interesting to see how the Bucks choose to defend these two, though.

DeRozan got to the line a ton in the first game and got 17 of his 35 points from there. He also went 9-of-15 on 2-point attempts so he had a very good game against the Bucks’ defense.

He went a combined 6-of-12 against Jrue Holiday and Wesley Matthews (both were 3-of-6), so I’m interested in who the Bucks stick on him in this one. I’m sure those two will take some of the assignment, but we’ll also see Khris Middleton.

An interesting note, DeAndre’ Bembry has held DeRozan to 2-of-7 shooting, hasn’t been called for a foul, and forced four turnovers this season. We haven’t seen a ton of Bembry outside of garbage time, but he’s done well when he’s out there (despite a foul-filled debut), so hopefully, we see more of him tonight.

LaVine complicates things in terms of matchups, but I’d like to see Holiday on him primarily. LaVine struggled against him last season, going 1-of-6 and turning it over two times. Of course, having DeRozan to take the pressure off will help that and he won’t see Holiday every time down.

DeRozan and LaVine will make tough shots no matter how good the defense is, but the Bucks have the bodies to make their lives difficult (depending on the whistle that night, I guess).