Early results mixed with Giannis at center
Through nearly 30 minutes Monday night, it was clear the Milwaukee Bucks weren’t going to get much out of their centers. John Henson and Thon Maker had combined for zero points on 0-of-10 shooting while grabbing four rebounds and doing little to inhibit the Boston Celtics’ offensive attack.
With that in mind, Bucks coach Jason Kidd turned to something different. With 6:31 left in the third quarter and Milwaukee trailing by 15 points, he sent out a lineup featuring Giannis Antetokounmpo at center with the 22year-old, position-defying star surrounded by Eric Bledsoe, Malcolm Brogdon, Tony Snell and Khris Middleton.
That lineup trimmed the deficit to seven points by the end of the quarter before Kidd needed to go to his bench to cycle out players for rest considering Antetokounmpo, Bledsoe, Snell and Middleton had played the full third
quarter. By the game’s end, that lineup, in particular, was plus-five in 91⁄2minutes, while combinations featuring Antetokounmpo at center finished plus-2.
“It’s definitely something that we always feel that we can go to if Thon or John was having an off night,” Kidd said of lineups with Antetokounmpo at center. “I think it gives Giannis the opportunity to have the big on him and have shooters — it gives him space on the floor. And then also to be able to get out and run with that group, to make plays for one another.”
Kidd has used more than a dozen lineup combinations this season featuring Antetokounmpo at center, totaling more than 40 minutes, according to NBA.com’s lineup tracking data. In terms of plus-minus, those lineups have been a net negative (minus-10) during that small sample, though all but one of the combinations have spent five minutes or less together on the court.
Still, it’s something that the team has often turned to when looking for a boost, hoping that the combination of their best play-maker surrounded by shooters will lead to positive results in the long term.
“Just trying to find something, trying to find a spark, a rotation or a mismatch that we can take advantage of,” Middleton said. “Giannis at that 5 spot kind of creates a problem.”
The grouping of Antetokounmpo, Bledsoe, Brogdon, Snell and Middleton represents the outlier among the Antetokounmpo at center lineups heading into Wednesday's 7 p.m. game against the Detroit Pistons at the BMO Harris Bradley Center. They have logged 16 minutes together over four games in the last month since Bledsoe arrived via a trade. That lineup’s 16 minutes ranks tied for 10th among the combinations Kidd has used this season.
While those 16 minutes aren’t much, they still point to plenty of potential for that group. That lineup has the highest offensive rating (121.8) among the Bucks’ 10 most-used lineups.
“For me I’m going to get the big guy,” Antetokounmpo said. “The big man’s always trying to rebound the ball and I’m taking off, so that’s one advantage seeing if they can keep up with me defensively. And it’s good because we’ve got four shooters out there.”
However, that level of offensive efficiency has come at a price. That lineup is also the second-worst defensively among the Bucks’ 10 most-used combinations with a 118.3 rating.
“It’s kind of hard when you have a big center … who can score down low so that’s going to make it tough on Giannis,” Middleton said. “It’s going to wear him out trying to do both ends — trying to play him down low and trying to be effective on the other end. It depends on who the matchup is.”
Antetokounmpo admits that it’s a bit harder defending a big than being matched up against a guard. While he may be able to outrun them to get into transition more easily, teams tend to try to pound the ball into the paint to make up for Milwaukee’s lack of bulk inside.
“If Coach Kidd likes that, he’s the boss,” Antetokounmpo said of playing more at center. “He makes the decisions. If Coach Kidd likes that it’s something we can try more.”
While that lineup provides interesting mismatch potential, Kidd doesn’t want to overuse it. Often he’s employed Antetokounmpo at center in games when his bigs haven’t made enough of an impact or in situations when Milwaukee needs an offensive jolt.
Outside of those instances, he’s kept that lineup under wraps, though that doesn’t mean he would expand its use at a later time.
“I think it’s definitely something that I don’t want to use for a long period of time,” Kidd said. “One, we’re already playing Giannis at a very high level of minutes. When you do put him at the five that sometimes will eat at his rest time. But at the same time, sometimes it does give us the advantage to have him playing at the five, being one of our better rebounders and shot blockers on the floor.”
Terry out with injury: An MRI on Tuesday confirmed that Bucks guard Jason Terry suffered a left calf strain during Monday’s loss to the Celtics.
The injury, which is the same type that former Bucks forward Greg Monroe suffered earlier this season, is expected to keep Terry out of game action for two or more weeks, though a firm timetable has not yet been established.
Monday marked Terry’s fourth game of regular action after appearing in just six of Milwaukee’s first 18 games. He’s averaging 1.5 points, 0.9 rebounds, 0.7 steals and 0.6 assists in 11.1 minutes per game in 10 appearances.