Coming off of a 110-101 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers Tuesday, the Milwaukee Bucks will host the Washington Wizards Saturday night at the BMO Harris Bradley Center.
In that game, rookie Rashad Vaughn and center Greg Monroe each scored 19 for the Bucks, while John Henson contributed 16 points and 10 boards for Milwaukee.
While getting wins is always a nice thing, the primary objectives for Milwaukee this October have been to develop chemistry with one another while seeing how new players fit together in the lineup, and to stay healthy.
With the latter in mind, Giannis Antetokounmpo did not play against Cleveland as the Bucks want to make sure they don’t have a tired, banged up player when the season begins as the 20-year-old played with Greece in EuroBasket 2015 last month.
As far as injuries are concerned, point guard Tyler Ennis has been in "controlled contact" situations, according to head coach Jason Kidd, but has not been medically cleared to play yet. Ennis had surgery for a torn labrum in his right shoulder during the off-season.
Also, Jabari Parker is still recovering from off-season knee surgery and has been practicing but likely is several weeks away from playing in a game.
Milwaukee has been thin at the power forward position due to Parker’s rehabilitation process and the absence of Chris Copeland, who had missed a week before returning Thursday due to a family situation.
Copeland, who played with Kidd in New York several seasons ago, could be a solid player off the pine for the Bucks this season with his overall experience and his ability to drain three-point shots.
As for Washington, they are fresh off a 127-118 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers Friday night as Marcin Gortat and Kelly Oubre Jr. paced the team with 16 points apiece while John Wall dished out 14 assists.
The Wizards have used the preseason to get acclimated to head coach Randy Wittman’s newly installed, “pace-and-space” offense, which uses four outside shooters and one big man down low. Though there have only been three pre-season games already, starting guard Bradley Beal has seemed to fit seamlessly into the new system as he has been averaging 16 points per contest.
Unfortunately, the Wizards have had a plethora of injuries. Alan Anderson, a free agent from Brooklyn, underwent his second ankle surgery in five months Tuesday and will miss a sizeable portion of the season. Martell Webster has been sidelined since the first week of practice due to an arthritic hip and Garrett Temple has been sidelined with a sore hamstring. Last, Jared Dudley is coming off back surgery and has yet to play in the preseason.
The Wizards are projected to use the following as their starting lineup; Wall (Point Guard), Beal (Shooting Guard), Otto Porter Jr. (Small Forward), Kris Humphries (Power Forward), and Gortat (Center).
The Bucks are projected to use the following as their starting lineup; Michael Carter-Williams (Point Guard), Greivis Vasquez (Shooting Guard), Khris Middleton (Small Forward), Antetokounmpo (Power Forward), and Monroe (Center).