Utah Jazz at Milwaukee Bucks: Keys to the Game

Key Match-up – Rodney Hood and Khris Middleton

Although the Jazz did an exceptional job of shutting down Antetokounmpo the last time these two teams met, he’ll likely be out to redeem himself and will most certainly need to be a focal point for the Jazz. However, the match-up I’m most looking forward to is that of Rodney Hood, who is reportedly set to play tomorrow, and Khris Middleton.

Both of these players have key roles on their respective squads and will be coming into this game working to get past injuries. Of course Hood has only been out for a couple weeks while Middleton has missed the majority of the season with a hamstring injury and will be logging just his fifth game of the season tonight.

Interestingly enough, Hood just so happened to re-injure his hyperextended knee the last time the Jazz and Bucks faced off, so aside from the mere seven minutes he played, we didn’t get to see either of these guys in action the last time around. Therefore, it will be exciting to see how they effect the game for both teams since they’ll finally be able to take the court.

On the season, Middleton’s scoring figures are way down from the 18.2 points per game he averaged last year, but of course that’s to be expected as he works his way back to full strength and is currently averaging just 19.8 minutes per game in the five contests he’s appeared in. Compared to last season where he averaged 36.1 minutes, that’s a stark drop-off so far.

https://twitter.com/utahjazz/status/834894646694273024

However, Middleton is shooting very efficiently in his limited minutes at 46.9 percent from the field and 50 percent from deep. Not to mention, in Milwaukee’s final game before the All-Star break, Middleton exploded for a performance that was very reminiscent of what he’s been known to do in the past as he put up 20 points on 7-of-13 shooting while going 1-of-1 from deep.

If that game was indicative of how he’ll be moving forward with his health returning, then Rodney Hood and the Jazz will have their work cut out for them if they hope to contain him. Of course as I mentioned, Hood barely played last time against Milwaukee, but Utah will need him to step up in a big way against them tonight.

It’s no secret that Rodney has been pretty inconsistent all year long (not to mention fragile), and it would be nice to see him turn things around and get into a hot streak down the stretch and heading into the playoffs. If he can begin that by playing well tonight and outshining Middleton, it could be a sign of very good things to come for the Jazz.