Well, they did it. And no, I’m not talking about the Bucks. The Golden State Warriors have made it undefeated to Milwaukee, as they enter tonight’s game at 24-0. Eyes from all across the league at tonight’s game. Many have donned the Bucks with the greatest chance of ending the perfect start with the Warriors coming off back-to-back games of a seven-game road trip, also having played double-overtime last night. Tonight should be an excellent atmosphere in Milwaukee.
Okay, now let’s talk about tonight’s game. We’ll start with the inevitable. The Warriors have a player on their team named Stephen Curry. Perhaps you may have heard of him. In all seriousness, Curry is putting forth another absolutely insane year. His 32.5 points per game leads the league. He leads the league in three-pointers. He leads the league in Player Impact Estimate. He leads the league in “How in the world did he do that?” plays. Plain and simple, Stephen Curry is absolutely insane. Regardless of the outcome tonight, Bucks fans who are at the game simply need to relish in the fact that they may be watching the greatest shooter ever to live.
photo: Noah Graham, NBA.com
So how do the Bucks stop Curry? Do they stick with their recent game plan of having O.J. Mayo start at point guard? Surely that wouldn’t be the most ideal defensive matchup with Curry. Perhaps Kidd relies on Michael Carter-Williams for the majority of the game. MCW offers the best chance of limiting the damage Curry can enforce with his length and wingspan. Although he would be diminishing the spacing on the floor, MCW could make up for it by playing a good defensive technique on Curry. It will be interesting to see how the point guard mastermind Jason Kidd takes on that challenge.
One of the main cogs in the Warriors that keeps the team running at such a firepower rate is the racehorse attitude of Draymond Green. He is averaging 13.5 points per game while getting 7.1 assists and 8.6 rebounds. Yeah, that’s pretty impressive. His net rating? Try 21.5, a league-high. Oh, and last night in Boston? The first 5×5 game in the NBA since 2012. Now that is impressive. Forget Curry, the key to this matchup is if the Bucks can limit Green’s versatility.
Now, the most important thing for the Bucks to accomplish will be the ability to stick with Golden State on three-pointers, or at least limit the number they get. If the Bucks can’t hit a shot from downtown and the Warriors just hit an average amount, they will be in trouble. Golden State is the last team the Bucks offense needs to be in a hole with. The Warriors shot only 29 percent last night in Boston. They were without Klay Thompson and Harrison Barnes. Somehow, they still won. It takes many things to beat the Warriors (including luck), and the Bucks will need nearly everything to be on their side tonight.
It’s safe to say for as bad as the Bucks have been at points so far this season, a win against an undefeated Warriors team would go a far way in resurrecting excitement among the fan base. Not that we are predicting a win or anything, but the last time the Bucks faced a team with a 20+ game win streak, they ended the 1971-72 Lakers 33 game win streak. So to answer Al Michaels’ question, yes; we believe in miracles. Anything can happen in the NBA.