Milwaukee Bucks: 3 Ball The One Saving Grace

Gary Neal is second in the NBA in 3-point shooting at 54.8 percent. (NBA.com photo)

The battered Milwaukee Bucks have just one of their projected starters still standing just three weeks into the season—shooting guard O.J. Mayo—and he’s at the center of the one thing the Bucks seem to be able to do well in the early going.

They may not have power forward Ersan Ilyasova, small forward Caron Butler may be out with a sprained shoulder, center Larry Sanders probably won’t be back before the New Year and point guard Brandon Knight has been out twice now with a hamstring strain.

But led by Mayo, the thing that has helped keep the Bucks in games so far is the 3-ball.

Milwaukee is fifth in the league in 3-point accuracy at 41.7 percent, trailing only the Golden State Warriors (stunning, to be sure … or not) at 46 percent, the Miami Heat at 44.1 percent, the New Orleans Pelicans at 43.2 percent and the Portland Trail Blazers—who they host at the BMO Harris Bradley Center Wednesday night—at 42.2 percent.

The Bucks actually shoot better from 3-point range than they do inside the arc, where they are hitting at just a 41.3 percent clip.

Their overall field-goal mark ranks 27th in the NBA. They’re 28th in rebounding, 25th in assists, 28th in scoring. The advanced metrics do them no favors, either: Milwaukee is 27th in offensive rating and 24th in defensive rating—a deadly combo if ever there was one—and the Bucks’ effective field goal percentage ranks 25th.

At least they have the 24th-best turnover percentage in the NBA, so there’s that.

But, man, can the Bucks can hit the 3.

O.J. Mayo is the only one of the Bucks projected starters still in the lineup. (NBA.com photo)

Gary Neal is hitting a team-best 54.8 percent, which is second in the NBA to only Anthony Morrow of the Pelicans among qualified players. Mayo, at 53.3 percent, is fourth.

In limited opportunities, rookie Giannis Antetokounmpo has made 4-of-9 from deep. Before he was hurt, Butler was 15-for-40 (37.5 percent). Khris Middleton—suddenly the starting small forward—is 8-for-21 (38.1 percent). In his three games, Ilyasova was 3-for-5.,

About the only poor 3-point shooter so far is rookie point guard Nate Wolters, who is just 2-for-18 (11.1 percent). He was only a 34.2 percent shooter from deep at South Dakota State, so that makes at least some sense.

But Wolters—a second-round draft pick—is probably the biggest surprise among this year’s rookie crop. Put it this way: Everyone who had Wolters trailing only Michael Carter-Williams of the Philadelphia 76ers in minutes per game, raise your hand. Folks, look out for the people with their hands raised—because they’re damned liars.

Mayo is quick to credit his success from behind the arc to his rookie backcourt mate.

"“Open shots, created by [Wolters],” Mayo told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “Passes have been on time, on target and it’s my job to knock them down.”"

Not surprisingly, Milwaukee’s best 3-point shooting performance of the season came in one of their two wins—a 13-for-23 night from deep in a 109-104 victory over Cleveland on Nov. 6. The 109 points was also a season high.

The Bucks have lost five straight since then, two of them in rather ugly fashion—a 118-95 drubbing at Miami on Nov. 12 and a 104-77 pounding at the hands of the Indiana Pacers on Nov. 15.

In their most recent loss, a 92-79 decision to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday night, the Bucks were within four points midway through the fourth quarter before the Thunder put on a finishing kick to put Milwaukee away.

If the Bucks can remember to keep the ball moving—their long scoring droughts seem to come at the same time as the ball starts to stagnate on the perimeter—they might be able to score more effectively from inside the arc, as well as from beyond it.

Because while 2-7 is the worst record in the Eastern Conference, it is the Eastern Conference, the conference where 30 wins might just land a team a playoff berth.

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