Two teams that look completely different after the trade deadline meet when Milwaukee Bucks welcomes the visiting Golden State Warriors on Monday evening.
It is the second day of a back-to-back for Bucks, who defeated the Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday afternoon 135-127.
Without Giannis Antetokounmpo could play on Sunday, Damian Lillard Milwaukee led with a season high 43 points and eight assists.
“I told Dame that he has to be an aggressive goal scorer and aggressive player and it’s hard to do,” Buck’s head coach Doc Rivers said. “I thought his downhill to create other buckets were big and then it led to his shooting.”
Golden State played last Saturday when it handled the bulls in Chicago, 132-111. Jimmy Butler debuted his Warriors in the city where his career started and got 25 points.
“Pretty fun to have Jimmy in our team. He’s a fantastic player,” said Warrior’s head coach Steve Kerr. “I’m most impressed with his passing. It changes everything, connecting the game. He does anywhere. He’s a lion out there.”
Butler was acquired on Wednesday after months of concern with the Miami heat, including several suspensions. Golden State parted with Andrew Wiggins, Kyle Anderson and a protected first choice in the store.
Milwaukee is now without one of the best players in his franchise history in Khris Middleton, which was traded with AJ Johnson to Washington for Kyle Kuzma. In his first two matches as a money, Kuzma has 12 and 13 points respectively.
Stephen Curry joins Warriors with 23 points and 6.1 assists per match. Kevon Looney leads down by 6.9 boards per match.
Antetokounmpo leads Milwaukee with 31.8 points and 12.2 returns per competition. Lillard is an average of 7.5 assists.
Antetokounmpo (calf) will remain on the side of all-Star the festivities out of caution. The twice MVP was the leading voice.
“We have monitored it and it just has not improved enough for us to play him,” Rivers said. “If this was a playoffs, would he play? Probably yes. But we want to make sure he plays in the playoffs.”
Pat Connaughton (calf) also missed Sunday’s competition for Bucks. For Golden State, Jonathan Kuminga (ankle) has been out since January 27 and will soon be evaluated.
Warriors find their success beyond the arch as well as from their depths. The Golden State is second in the league in both percentages from 3-points (41.5 percent) and in bench points per match (45.8 ppg).
Bucks, however, are more efficient shooters, who come second in the league in 3-point percent (38.7 percent) and fourth in effective field target percentage (56.3 percent).
This is the first matchup between these teams this season. The season with two games has been divided into each of the last four seasons, with every team that wins each match at home. Curry has not played notable in Milwaukee since the 2022-23 season.
Warriors handled Bucks in the last matchup on March 6 in San Francisco, 125-90. Curry led 29 points eight returns while Antetokounmpo made 23 with seven returns and six assists.
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