Milwaukee Bucks vs. Minnesota Timberwolves Preview: 5-0 on a Friday Night?

The Milwaukee Bucks are undefeated. The Minnesota Timberwolves are a mess. Can the Bucks keep their pristine record, are are they primed for an away game letdown?

Bucks Update

What’s the mood of Milwaukee fans right now? Well...

(WARNING: NSFW)

There’s too much to like. The Bucks have smashed the Pacers and Sixers, gutted out tough wins against the Knicks and Hornets, all while looking like a modern NBA offense and an effective NBA defense...and Giannis Antetokounmpo hasn’t even reached his final form yet.

Player to Watch: Malcolm Brogdon

Of all the Bucks players who seem to have been elevated by Mike Budenholzer’s new system, the President seems to be lagging behind. His shooting has been rough (0.410 from the field, including 7 of 19 from deep), and he continues to dribble the ball for longer than some fans are comfortable with. There has been discussion of whether or not it would be better to bring Brogdon off the bench, allowing him to flourish with bench lineups, but it’s also not necessarily the case that he’s been “bad” either.

Wolves Update

Well then. Drama and speculation swirl relentlessly in Minnesota, as the months-long dance between Jimmy Butler (who wants out) and Tom Thibodeau (who wants the opposite) enters yet another chorus of “when are the Wolves gonna ship Jimmy Buckets out?” Our SB Nation brethren over at Canis Hoopus can provide more extensive backstory on this front, but the Butler-Thibs-Wiggins-KAT saga is one for the ages, and it’s showing on the court: all of Minnesota’s defensive averages are middle-of-the-pack or worse.

On the medical side of things, guard Justin Patton continues to miss time with a foot injury, and former top overall pick Andrew Wiggins is listed as questionable with a quad injury.

Player to Watch: Karl-Anthony Towns

Um...

Yikes. By many accounts, Towns appears to be out-of-sorts right now. In five games, KAT is performing well below his own standards, with 16.4 points (on 0.426 shooting from the field) and 9.2 rebounds. However, since Bucks’ center rotation of Brook Lopez and John Henson will probably be content to let Towns shoot at will from downtown, he is still a 45%+ shooter from distance. Is today the day where KAT gets his groove back?

Prediction Poll!