Following a disappointing end to their road trip, the Milwaukee Bucks face the Minnesota Timberwolves tonight at Fiserv. For whatever reason, the first game back from a road trip can be rough for the home team, so the Bucks must be ready to go. They played very well for most of the December 22 matchup, but a 25-8 third-quarter run by Minny powered the Wolves to the win. With key injuries and suspensions to the visitors tonight, this is a major chance for the Bucks to avenge that loss and show they
can beat a depleted team.
Where We’re At
The Bucks have just concluded their four-game swing out west, during which they beat the Kings and Lakers but lost to the Warriors and Nuggets. Despite the losses, Milwaukee still had the league’s 12th-best net rating during that span, so there’s still some reason for optimism. As we know, the team remains really good offensively with Giannis on the court (+10.8), and really bad with him off (-10.4). They need a better plan for the non-Giannis minutes that doesn’t just involve letting certain guys play iso-ball; granted, we all knew that, given the way this team was set up, the non-GA minutes would be rough to some degree.
The Wolves have been playing awesome basketball of late, winning six of their last eight games. Most recently, they split a baseball series with Cleveland and beat the Wemby-led Spurs by one point following an Anthony Edwards game-winner. The Wolves own the NBA’s sixth-best net rating over the same period mentioned above, along with the second-best effective field goal percentage—they’re in some sort of rhythm. Luckily for the Bucks, that rhythm may be broken by the absences of Anthony Edwards and Rudy Gobert tonight; Edwards is injured, while Gobert has been suspended due to the number of flagrant fouls he’s accrued over the course of the season.
Injury Report
For the Bucks, Taurean Prince (neck) is out, while Myles Turner (illness) is questionable.
As mentioned, the Wolves will be without Rudy Gobert (suspension) and Anthony Edwards (foot). TJ Shannon (foot) will also be out of action.
Player To Watch
With Edwards out, the Wolves are going to need scoring from a different source—Julius Randle seems a prime candidate. Look for Randle to come out aggressive and try to get Giannis in foul trouble, which would then allow him to attack smaller/weaker defenders. Giannis and Julius have had some gritty matchups going back to his Knicks days, and I’d expect no different tonight.
How To Watch
FanDuel Sports Network Wisconsin at 7:00 p.m. CST.
