Preview: Washington Wizards travel to Milwaukee to take on Giannis and the Bucks
The Washington Wizards are looking to bounce back from Sunday’s loss on Tuesday, as they’re hosted by Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks.
Tuesday night’s game against the Milwaukee Bucks holds little promise for the Washington Wizards. They’re coming off of a loss to the Atlanta Hawks in which they let up 152 points through just four quarters, with 45 of those going to point guard Trae Young.
Still, the Wizards will do their best at containing reigning MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo in Milwaukee, as the Bucks continue their incredible 2019-2020 campaign. They sit at 40-6, the best record in the NBA.
Washington Wizards to Watch
It’s the theme of the season, but it’s also the truth. If Washington is going to have a chance at victory in Milwaukee, it will be because Bradley Beal has a strong performance. He’s on a tear currently, averaging 35.8 points and 6.3 assists over his last four games.
Washington has gone 2-2 in that stretch, with wins over the Detroit Pistons and Cleveland Cavaliers. Against a team as deep as Milwaukee, he’ll truly have to shoulder a large portion of the scoring, per usual, to give Washington their best shot at keeping up with the Bucks. Milwaukee has the number one rated offense in the league, at 119.3 points per game, per NBA.com.
But he’s not alone in responsibility for a good performance. After all, the Wizards are just 7-10 on the season when Beal scores 30+ points, and 1-4 in games where he notches 40+ points. So a large scoring output from Beal is not necessarily a recipe for guaranteed success.
Washington will need a big game from their star, but their bench needs to do its job as well. Luckily for the Wizards, both these things can be true for Tuesday night’s matchup.
In order to go toe to toe with this offensive juggernaut, the Wizards will need to see activity and production from everyone. It doesn’t help that Jordan McRae has now been ruled out.
The #Wizards list Jordan McRae as OUT tonight vs the Bucks.
— Candace Buckner (@CandaceDBuckner) January 28, 2020
McRae sprained his right ankle on Sunday in ATL. Remember, it was his left ankle he appeared to sprain badly in Toronto.
After the game in Atlanta, McRae told me this one felt worse than the Toronto sprain.
Key to Win: Defense, Defense, Defense
In order to keep up with Milwaukee, Washington will have to score the ball.
But in order to beat the Bucks, the Wizards will have to put on a defensive clinic. They’re not incapable of hard-nosed defense, there’s evidence from this season to suggest that. Just not a lot of evidence.
Per Basketball-Reference, in the four games that Washington has held their opponents to 100 points or less, they are 4-0. It may seem redundant, but in those wins, their efforts were concentrated and balanced on both ends of the basketball floor. So it is possible.
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And coming off of a game where they allowed 152 to the Hawks, the Wizards are going to have dig deep into their bag of tricks and pull out all the stops in Milwaukee. Especially along the perimeter, where the Bucks are averaging 13.8 makes per game.
In the lone game this season in which Milwaukee was held under 100, they suffered a loss to the Utah Jazz in November. It’ll take that kind of effort from the Wizards on Tuesday night if they’re to leave Fiserv Forum with a much-needed win.