In a preview before Friday night’s NBA Cup game, the 7-4 Milwaukee Bucks head to the Spectrum Center to take on Rookie of the Year candidate Kon Knueppel and the 3-7 Charlotte Hornets. The Bucks have shown
a tendency to play to their opponent’s level—good and bad—so tonight’s game is a chance to right that ship and set the tone against a Hornets team that has lost three in a row.
Where We’re At
Rebounding aside—and that’s a very big aside—the Bucks looked good against the Rockets, controlling the game for the majority of the night. They were feisty, urgent, and poised (well, for the most part). Yet they lost. Against the Mavericks, they looked a different squad entirely. The game had very little rhythm and was far more notable for what went wrong than anything that went right. Yet they won. This has made for quite the conflicting fan experience. After all, we want our team to win and look good doing so. Up against a perennially struggling Hornets team that already has five losses by 16 or more points, tonight’s game offers the chance for self-correction. For the Bucks, this is all about the mind game—and it starts with Giannis, whose cerebrality has been questionable at best thus far despite his otherworldly production and dominance. Get this right and the Bucks should exterminate the Hornets.
In what must feel like déjà vu for Charlotteans, the Hornets are again NBA basement dwellers. Currently 12th in the East, the Hornets’ only wins have come against the combined 5-26 Brooklyn Nets, Washington Wizards, and Utah Jazz. Franchise player LaMelo Ball is dealing with yet another ankle injury and has only suited up for six games so far, while secondary “star” Brandon Miller has only played twice and remains out with a shoulder injury. On the positive side, fourth overall pick Kon Knueppel has looked great, averaging 16.7 PPG, 6.4 RPG, and 3.0 APG on .452/.400/.913 shooting splits, and was just one assist shy of a triple-double against the Lakers on Monday. The Hornets’ other standout rookie, 7’1” Ryan Kalkbrenner, has also exceeded expectations thus far. He’s started all ten games and put up 9.2 PPG, 6.6 RPG, 1.0 SPG, and 2.3 BPG in just 27 MPG.
Injury Report
For the Bucks, Giannis is questionable (left knee; patellar tendinopathy), while Taurean Prince (neck; herniated disk) and Kevin Porter Jr. (meniscus surgery) remain out.
LaMelo Ball (right ankle; impingement) practiced with the G League’s Greensboro Swarm on Tuesday, but is listed as out against the Bucks. Also out are Josh Green (left shoulder surgery), Brandon Miller (left shoulder; subluxation), and old foe Grant Williams (right knee surgery). Probable are old friend Pat Connaughton (illness), Collin Sexton (right ankle; strain), and KJ Simpson (left AC joint; sprain).
Player To Watch
In three games against the Bucks last year, Moussa Diabaté turned into Ben Wallace: 7.3 PPG, 12.7 RPG, 1.7 APG, 1.0 SPG, and 1.3 BPG on 62% shooting from the field in just 26.4 minutes. But it was on the offensive glass—aka the current Bucks’ kryptonite—that he went absolutely berserk, hauling in an absurd 6.7 per contest, including a career high 10 in a 115-114 win last November. Through ten games this year—all off the bench—the 6’10” big is averaging career highs across the board (including 10.1 PPG, 6.9 RPG, and 1.5 BPG) and if the Bucks don’t put serious work into boxing him out, he might just muck the game up enough to give the Hornets a chance.
How To Watch
FanDuel Sports Wisconsin at 6:00 p.m. CST.
