The pros and cons of the Milwaukee Bucks starting Wesley Matthews

The pros of the Milwaukee Bucks starting Wesley Matthews

The ultimate reason why the Bucks made the change in the first place was to bring more defense to the starting five. Allen is not a horrid defender by any stretch, but Matthews simply offers more on that side of the basketball, which has been on display in these last two games.

Against the 76ers, Matthews immediately took the assignment of guarding James Harden, one of the most prolific scorers of this generation. During the nearly five minutes of game action that the two were matched up, Matthews surrendered just four points to Harden while also forcing him to commit a turnover, according to NBA.com. Given Harden’s pedigree as a scorer, those numbers are solid from Matthews.

While he was good against the 76ers, Matthews’ defensive effort truly shined against the Nets on Thursday. Matthews was primarily tasked with slowing down Kevin Durant, and he did a reputable job by holding him to 13 points on 4-of-11 shooting with a turnover. Of course, the veteran had a large blunder near the end of overtime as he fouled Durant on a reckless closeout, which sent KD to the line for three free throws to give Brooklyn the lead. Aside from that, Matthews did his part to make things difficult for Durant whenever he touched the basketball. Not to mention that when he was not on Durant, Matthews held Kyrie Irving to 0-of-4 shooting and Seth Curry to 0-of-2.

These two games have showcased how important Matthews will be in these big-game matchups. When the opposing team has a top-notch scorer like Harden or Durant, the Bucks can immediately put a great defender like Matthews on them right from the opening tip. Similar to P.J. Tucker during last year’s title run, Matthews will willingly take on the toughest scorers and attempt to play them as physically as possible to keep them in check. This is not a knock on Allen’s game, but he cannot do that for the Milwaukee Bucks, which is fine, as they never expected him to do so.