NBA Game of the Week: Bucks vs. Nuggets

Story posted March 24, 2023 in CommRadio, Sports by Colin Snyder

With the NBA season winding down, the Eastern and Western conference leaders will meet in Denver for a highly anticipated matchup which also features two of the top NBA MVP candidates.

The Milwaukee Bucks will travel to Denver on Saturday, March 25, for a duel against the Nuggets, while both squads seek to remain atop their respective standings.

The Bucks will roll into Saturday evening thirty games over the .500 mark, but also coming off of a game on Friday night.

The Bucks enter this weekend 7-3 in their last 10 games, while Giannis Antetokounmpo has averaged 31 points per game and a cool 10.8 rebounds per game in the month of March. Bucks head coach, Mike Budenholzer will also turn to all-star guard Jrue Holiday and veteran Khris Middleton for contribution on both ends of the floor. It’s also worth monitoring Middleton’s knee injury ahead of this tilt, as he is on par to miss the first-leg of the Bucks’ back-to-back against the Jazz.

If the Bucks can find their role players in good-form this weekend, that should help them greatly on this four-game road-trip. Bobby Portis and Brook Lopez are a couple of the guys in Milwaukee’s front-court that have played a vital role as a scoring and rebounding option all season.

The last time these two foes met was just a couple months ago, on Jan. 25. The Bucks got the best of the Nuggets on their home court, winning by an eight point margin while Antetokounmpo came up big with 33 points and 14 rebounds.

In that previous game, the Nuggets were without their main contributors in Jokic, Murray and Porter Jr. Aaron Gordon led Denver in scoring, rebounding, and assisting on that evening.

This time around, the Nuggets will be eager to even the season series with their stars back on the court. As mentioned earlier, the Nuggets will be trying to take advantage of the Bucks who will be on a back-to-back come Saturday night.

Denver will need to rely on its key contributors in this game. Murray, Porter Jr. and Gordon will all have to step up against a deep Bucks squad.

One thing to keep an eye out for in this matchup is the two benches. As mentioned, the Bucks have a deep bench, so it’ll be interesting to see how the Nuggets bench will hold up when their key guys need a breather.

But of course, Jokic will lead the line for this Nuggets team, who is just 5-5 in their last 10 games. Jokic is currently seeking his third straight MVP award, and would be the first player to do so since Larry Bird.

Jokic has also recently suffered a slight dip in the MVP race, as he’s been surpassed by Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid for the No. 1 spot on the KIA NBA MVP Ladder.

This all adds up to Saturday’s match-up with Giannis and the Bucks, making it even more pivotal, as Jokic could cement himself back in first place before the regular season comes to a close.

Saturday’s game should be an action-packed evening of basketball in the Mile-High city, filled with loads of storylines and excitement.

Colin Snyder is a third-year majoring in public relations. To contact him, please email czs5980psu.edu.