Bucks vs. 76ers Preview: The Road to 82-0

The 3-0 Milwaukee Bucks welcome the visiting 2-2 Philadelphia 76ers to the Fiserv Forum. The Bucks had the day off yesterday, but the 76ers lost in overtime 133-132 to the Detroit Pistons. Always sad to see your opponent play in an overtime game the first night of a back-to-back :)

Bucks Update

The Milwaukee Bucks continue their march to 82-0 after they defeated the visiting New York Knicks 124-113 on Monday night. That game saw the Bucks absolutely light it up from downtown, hitting 17-40 (42.5%) threes. Hold on, I think they’re still shooting three-pointers as we speak.

Player to Watch: Eric Bledsoe

Starting point guard Eric Bledsoe has gotten off to a very efficient start offensively, and he looks to continue that trend tonight against the burgeoning Philadelphia 76ers. This is a prime blow-up spot for Bledsoe, as Ben Simmons’ status for this game is in doubt with back soreness. Bledsoe has a golden opportunity to showcase his improved game on national television.

76ers Update

As stated earlier, Philly is coming off of a grueling OT loss to the Detroit Pistons where Blake Griffin dropped a 50 piece on them. Five members of the 76ers played 30+ minutes, including a game-high 44 minutes from Robert Covington. There are surely going to be some tired legs tonight, especially if Simmons, who sat out last night’s loss, is out again. At 2-2 so far this season, the 76ers have been somewhat of a disappointment considering the lofty standards before the season began.

Player to Watch: Joel Embiid

I mean, how can you not love this guy? Not only is he a monster on the court, but he might even be better at trolling his opponents. Look at the egregious flop, then epic trolling by Embiid after he got Andre Drummond ejected.

Trolling aside, Embiid is arguably the most skilled big man in the NBA. In 39 minutes last night he piled up 33 points, 11 rebounds, 7 assists, 3 blocks and only one turnover. His three-point shooting leaves a lot to be desired, but Brook Lopez will certainly have his hands full tonight. Giannis vs. Embiid is MUST-watch television.

Update! The Brew Hoop staff came up with an idea to start tracking our community’s confidence going into games, and we will be adding this poll to the end of each game preview post, as well as posting the results in the game thread. Let us know what you think!