3 Milwaukee Bucks in danger of losing minutes in the 2023 NBA Playoffs
By Corey Moen
3 Milwaukee Bucks in danger of losing minutes in the playoffs: Wesley Matthews
That shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone. Wesley Matthews has only played in 41 games for the Bucks this season as he’s missed time due to hamstring and calf injuries this season.
Matthews is only averaging 15 minutes per game (the lowest of his career) and has lost a step defensively. He was regarded as a guy who could guard the other team’s best wing player, but with his age and with General Manager Jon Horst building the roster full of players with defensive versatility, Matthews isn’t asked to play that role anymore.
Budenholzer has said in the past that the goal for Matthews is to keep him fresh for the playoffs, but it is fair to question Matthews’ role after the acquisition of Crowder and the signings of Goran Dragic and Joe Ingles.
Matthews likely won’t be in the playoff rotation because teams don’t play guys who are only in for 10-15 minutes. Matthews, before the games against Indiana and Phoenix, hadn’t played since February 16 against the Chicago Bulls. In the two recent games, Matthews played limited minutes (13 against Indiana) and (11 against Phoenix.) With the Bucks having 12 regular season games left, it feels like it’s too short to ramp a player up to play 20-25 minutes.
Matthews averaged over 20 minutes per game last postseason, but don’t expect to see that this time around as he will likely see a reduced role in this upcoming postseason.