Bucks hoping to snap out of three-point funk
Over their past 15 games, the Milwaukee Bucks have been in a three-point slump, shooting just 32.9% after starting the season at 36.5% over the first 25 games. Their struggles have been especially noticeable over the past three games, as they’ve connected on just 18 of 68 triples (26.5%).
However, they’ve found ways to win two of those contests, including Wednesday night when they missed their first nine attempts and finished 4 of 19 (21.1%) against the Orlando Magic.
Bucks coach Jason Kidd admitted his team “got lucky” to win despite such a poor night shooting, noting that “in this league, if you don’t make threes
you’re going to get beat.” Considering the next team coming to Milwaukee, that statement may especially hold true.
The reigning-champion Golden State Warriors, who helped reshape the league with their three-point proficiency and lead the NBA in three-point shooting at 39.0%, will make their lone trip to Milwaukee this season for a 7 p.m. game Friday at the BMO Harris Bradley Center. Guard Stephen Curry, who can knock down shots from virtually anywhere past half court, remains questionable with a right ankle sprain, but with or without him the Warriors remain one of the most potent offenses in the league.
Golden State’s style also represents a foil to what the Bucks do best. The Warriors are assassins from the outside while the Bucks are one of the best teams in the NBA at scoring inside.
Getting caught up in a three-point contest with the Warriors isn’t necessarily the best idea when, as Bucks wing Khris Middleton said following practice Thursday, “it’s obvious they have the better three-point shooters over there.”
As much as the Bucks want to maintain their style while executing at their best, there are elements of what the Warriors do that they want to imitate. Milwaukee wants to match Golden State’s physicality, as it feels it has in the past. The Bucks also aspire to reach a level of ball movement and shot creation for which the Warriors are known, with players spreading the shots around as well as getting into the paint and kicking to shooters for open looks.
The trick for the Bucks, though, is making those open shots, especially the threes.
Milwaukee has had good looks during their three-point slump. Around the locker room, the refrain is the same — regardless of other changes, the quality long-range shots the Bucks are getting has generally been good.
“We’re getting wide open looks in the corner, we’re getting wide open looks at the top of the key or in the slots, it’s just not going down,” Kidd said. “We’ve got to keep shooting it with confidence and keep working on it and that’s what the guys are doing.”
However, routinely missing those opportunities has dropped the Bucks to 25th in the league in three-point percentage (35.1%). With an emphasis on scoring inside, the Bucks don’t shoot a high enough volume — they shoot the fourth-fewest threes per game — to make up for nights when the threes aren’t falling, putting added weight on the chances they do get.
As hard as the struggles have hit of late, multiple players expressed that they remain positive knowing that there’s not necessarily something schematically or physically wrong. The open shots have been there and will continue to be there and at some point, they’ll fall like they have at other times this season.
“When you have to go back and fix things then you’re basically starting all over again,” Middleton said. “When you have good shots and good misses that’s just the way it is sometimes. It’s not going to fall every time. Sometimes it’s going to feel like you’re being teased with it. I’d rather have good misses than figure out what’s wrong with my shot.”
Regardless of how they get their points, the Bucks know they’ll have to bring their best effort at both ends in order to have a chance against the Warriors. They memorably did that two seasons ago on Dec. 12, 2015, in ending Golden State’s 24-game, season-opening win streak and have acquitted themselves well in battles between the two teams over the past few years.
“I think we just respect them a lot,” Giannis Antetokounmpo said of playing up to the Warriors. “We know that they’re the best team. Whenever we play against them we’re excited and scared at the same time because we know that at any point in the game they can embarrass us.
“So we go out there and play hard. We’re playing against the champs and when you play against the champs you’ve got to show up and give the best effort you can because one day we want to be in that situation too.”