Milwaukee Bucks Offense Is Finding Its Stride

The Milwaukee Bucks have quietly become the offensive juggernaut they threatened to be after trading for Damian Lillard shortly before the season began.

It’s been a tumultuous start for the Bucks, as they’ve battled through their lead assistant coach resigning, an overmatched defense, and new players that didn’t immediately assimilate to their full offensive potential. However, it’s safe to say they’ve hit their offensive stride.

Milwaukee has the NBA’s third-best offense, scoring 120.4 points per 100 possessions. However, that number jumped to 125.9 over their past 10 games with their effective field goal percentage hitting a whopping 59.8 percent. Both of those would be NBA records if they held across an entire season. They also lead the league with 12 130-point games, all coming within their last 18 contests.

Still, it seems like they have another gear to hit.

Over these last 10 games, Milwaukee has employed a balanced scoring attack led by Giannis Antetokounmpo and Lillard. Antetokounmpo puts immense pressure on the rim, relentlessly attacking his defender off the bounce and not bailing them out with threes—he’s only taking 1.4 threes per game during this stretch, the second-lowest rate of his career.

He’s taken 323 shots within four feet of the hoop. That’s 90 more than the second-placed Zion Williamson or the same difference between Zion and Kyle Kuzma, who has taken the 25th most shots around the bucket.

The Lillard-Antetokounmpo pick-and-roll hasn’t materialized quite yet, but both guys are dangerous in their own rights. Lillard has found his preferred partner in Brook Lopez, as the duo has been extremely dangerous working together.

Lillard’s three-point stroke has also come around. After his annual slow start to the season, he’s knocking down over 46 percent of his nearly nine three-point attempts per game in the Bucks’ last 10. He’s also leveraging the threat of his outside shot to get downhill to attack the basket, often drawing trips to the free throw line as a result.

What’s helped Antetokounmpo and Lillard click is the balanced attack around them. Defenses are struggling to figure out who to send help from when Malik Beasley, Khris Middleton and Lopez surround the Bucks’ dangerous duo.

Beasley is making a career high 45.7 percent of his threes. It’s not just the accuracy, either, it’s the speed of his release. He can get his shot off in the tightest of spaces, ensuring his man hugs him as he spaces to the corners.

Lopez hasn’t experienced the same success with his shot, but he’s a massive human being who demands attention on his slow rolls and ability to create space for his teammates. Despite his slump, he still pulls his man away from the basket, creating driving lanes and space for his teammates to operate in.

Middleton is the final piece to the Bucks’ puzzle. Once cast in the Lillard role as Milwaukee’s 1B to Antetokounmpo’s 1A, he’s now in the clear role as their third scorer. He shares most of his minutes alongside one of the Bucks’ stars, with the exception of short stints in the second and fourth quarters.

After battling injuries over the last year-plus, he’s finally coming around. Over his last 10 games, he’s averaging 16 points, 5.9 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game while shooting 50 percent from the field and 42 percent from the three-point line. It’s no coincidence the Bucks’ offensive surge coincides with his rebirth.

The Bucks’ second unit still has question marks, but super-sub Bobby Portis has found his stroke over the last couple of weeks. He’s the only proven scorer coming off Milwaukee’s bench and they need him to consistently get buckets. His ability to score from all three levels is a great complement to the rest of Milwaukee’s offensively-minded players.

Milwaukee is cooking right now, but they still have another level (or two) to hit. They have yet to solve the Lillard-Antetokounmpo (or the Antetokounmpo-Lillard) pick-and-rolls. That should unlock their offense even further.

Just a few months in and Milwaukee is already showing why they moved all their chips into the middle of the table for an elite offense. With more work to be done, this could just be the start of something special for what could be a historical unit.