Key Stat – Three-Point Percentage
Although the Utah Jazz thoroughly outmatched the Bucks overall in their last contest, the one area where Milwaukee was slightly sharper was in their three-point shooting. Although the Jazz converted on two more threes than the Bucks, they did it at a 37.9 percent clip whilst Milwaukee converted at a 39.1 percent clip.
And while that margin may be small, the one guy in particular who really hurt the Jazz from behind the arc was seven-footer Thon Maker who went 3-of-4 in the contest. Many of those looks were wide open as Rudy Gobert and other Jazzmen failed to close out on the big man who’s certainly capable of cashing in on such shots given that he’s shooting 50 percent on the season, albeit in limited attempts.
And now with Parker sidelined, Maker has been slid over into the starting lineup and will likely only continue to improve from range. Not to mention, obviously adding Middleton back into the mix makes the Bucks even more of a threat and given that they’re already the sixth best three-point shooting team in the league, the Jazz will need to be careful and active on the perimeter.
Giannis Antetokounmpo on Thon Maker. Some very high praise pic.twitter.com/DJ3nOPfB1Y
— Ben Mallis (@BenMallis) February 17, 2017
It’s honestly somewhat surprising to me that the Bucks rank sixth in the league while the Jazz rank just 12th in three-point shooting, but given Utah’s blatant inconsistency all season, perhaps it shouldn’t come as that much of a shock
There’s no question that guys like Hood, Burks and Lyles need to get going from three and hopefully they can start to do so tonight to not only give the Jazz a boost against the Bucks but to also help them get on a roll for the tough month of March that lies ahead.