Raps (14-20, 7-11 road) @ (Bucks (16-19, 9-5 home)
Gametime: 7:00 p.m. central time (FS Wisconsin)
| Bucks | Position | Raps |
| Luke Ridnour | PG | Will Solomon* |
| Michael Redd | SG | Anthony Parker |
| Richard Jefferson | SF | Jamario Moon |
| Luc Mbah a Moute | PF | Chris Bosh |
| Dan Gadzuric* | C | Andrea Bargnani* |
Injuries:
Bucks: Andrew Bogut is day-to-day with back spasms. Malik Allen missed Saturday's game with a lower back injury.
Raps: Jermaine O'Neal (right knee) is a game-time decision while Jose Calderon (hamstring) is day-to-day.
08/09 Series:
Nov 2: Raps 91, @Bucks 87
08/09 Advanced Stats:
Bucks Offense: 23rd (104.0 points/100 possessions) Defense: 5th (103.6) Pace: 13th (92.0)
Raptors Offense: 17th (105.9 points/100 possessions) Defense: 23rd (109.2) Pace: 18th (90.7)
Three points:
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Who's on first? Both teams could be missing key pieces tonight, as Andrew Bogut missed Saturday's game with back spasms and the Raps beat Orlando 108-102 while missing both Jose Calderon and Jermaine O'Neal. Will Solomon and Roko Ukic (9/14, 23 pts, 11 assists combined) were excellent filling in for Calderon, while Bargnani has been greatly improved in the three games he has started in O'Neal's absence (21 ppg in that span). Either way, the starting lineups could look very different by tipoff.
Bogut's back. The Bucks are 0-4 without Bogut this season and 16-15 with him, so naturally we'll be paying close attention to the big fella's injury status--he's become the Bucks most indispensable player. The good news is that Bogut doesn't consider the injury serious but it's the same one he thought he had put behind him. If Bogut does play he'll likely have an interesting matchup against Bargnani, who can be bullied on the block but will draw defenders to the perimeter on offense--not exactly where Bogut wants to be playing. Bogut has at times matched up with Bosh as well, though he typically has to concede open jumpers given Bosh superior quicness from the face-up.
Whether or not Bogut plays we'll probably see some interesting matchups here, as the Bucks could go small (Luc, CV) and hope Bargnani is unable to take advantage of his height in the post. Mbah a Moute had some success guarding Bosh in the late-going of the team's first matchup, so it will be interesting to see how he handles Bosh this time around.
Boards and Bombs. The Bucks can't shoot but rank fourth in both offensive (29.5%) and total rebounding percentage (52.0%), while the Raptors are second to last in both categories. The Raps' usual prolific three point shooting is down slightly this year, as they rank just 17th in threes per game (6.4) but still manage a respectable 8th in 3fg% (38%). Calderon (.458), Parker (.426), and Kapono (.438) are still all draining threes at excellent rates, though yesterday Parker managed to score 26 points on a sizzling 13/16 fg without attempting a single three.
Coverage:
Raptors HQ / Raptors Republic / Doug Smith / RaptorBlog / DinoNation