NBA 2018/19 Starting Lineups and Match Prediction: Brooklyn Nets vs Milwaukee Bucks
The Milwaukee Bucks will play host to the Brooklyn Nets on Saturday, April 6th, 2019 at 5 pm. The Bucks are the confirmed number one seed in the Eastern Conference after a 128-122 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday night.
The Bucks, with a record of 58-20, got a monstrous 45 points 13 rebounds and 6 assists from their star and potential MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo. He was 13/22 with 3/7 3-pointers. The Bucks are not only the Eastern Conference’s best team they are the best team in the NBA this season. At home, the Bucks are 32-6.
The Brooklyn Nets are having a decent season. At 39-40, their place in the NBA’s 2019 playoffs is not yet secure. However, the Nets are 7th in the East tied with the Magic and are half a game up on the 9th place Heat.
The Charlotte Hornets are 2.5 games back of the Nets in 10th place. With just 3-4 games left to play this season, any winning streak or losing streak by these 4 teams could change the bottom half of the playoff bracket in the Eastern Conference. The Nets need to win their remaining games to control their fate. The Nets are 17-22 on the road and are currently on a 2 game losing streak.
Milwaukee Bucks Starters
The Milwaukee Bucks will likely start Eric Bledsoe, Sterling Brown, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Khris Middleton and Brook Lopez.
Brooklyn Nets Starters:
The Nets will probably start D’Angelo Russell, Joe Harris, Rodions Kurucs, Jarrett Allen, and DeMarre Carroll.
Expectations, Why, and Prediction
The Nets and the Bucks played at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn back on April 1st, 2019. The Bucks won that game 131-121. The Bucks got 28 points and 11 rebounds from Antetokounmpo and 29 points from Eric Bledsoe. D’Angelo Russell also had a double-double for the Nets with 28 points and 10 rebounds in the losing effort.
A huge area of concern, in that game for the Nets, was that the Nets committed 23 turnovers. All nine Nets players committed at least one turnover and D’Angelo Russell had 6 turnovers. The Nets are a young up and coming team.
However, to be successful and win they must take better care of the basketball. As a team, the Nets commit the 4th most turnovers in the Association at 15.1 per game so this is a recurring season-long issue.
On the other side, the Bucks are 12th in the NBA with 17 points per game off of turnovers and 6th in the NBA with 17.7 fast break points per game. The Nets, who do play hard, will simply make the game easier for the Bucks if they do not value each possession.
Also, during that April Fool’s Day loss to the Bucks, the Nets shot only 41.5% for the game. Only Jarrett Allen and Caris LeVert shot over 50%. D’Angelo Russell was 9/27 for 33.3% from the field. The Nets must make their shots otherwise defending becomes easy for the Bucks.
Further, Milwaukee averages 53.5 points per game in the paint as Antetokounmpo is always attacking the rim. The Nets average 48.8 points in the paint. If D’Angelo Russell and Antetokounmpo are the offensive shot leaders on their respective teams, the difference is Russell is a perimeter shooter and Antetokounmpo is an attacker.
The difference is shots closer to the basket have a higher chance of counting. Shots from the outside are less consistent. Russell will need to mix it up more and try to penetrate to the rim to keep his shot efficiency higher and keep the Bucks defense honest.
Expect the Nets to steal a victory by 5 points or less. The Bucks will likely manage minutes for Antetokounmpo and their starters as they have already established homecourt advantage for the playoffs.