Detroit Pistons: Worst potential playoff matchups for 2019

3. Milwaukee Bucks

First-year Pistons coach Dwane Casey wants his team to shoot a lot of 3-pointers. Last season, when he won the NBA Coach of the Year award, Casey’s Toronto Raptors ranked in the league’s top-five in 3-pointers made (11.8 per game) and attempted (33.0).

This season, the Pistons are taking 32.0 3s per game, but they’re only making 9.8 per game; Detroit ranks 28th out of 30 teams in 3-point accuracy, hitting 30.5 percent of its tries. The Pistons simply don’t have the shooters to be consistently successful playing the style that Casey wants to play.

The Bucks lead the NBA this season in 3s made (14.8 per game) and are second in 3s attempted (39.1 per game). They’re making 37.7 percent of their looks from beyond the arc.

Long story short: If the Pistons go out there and try to go shot-for-shot from long range with these Bucks, they’re going to lose.

Khris Middleton is a borderline All-Star who is scoring 20.1 points per game for Milwaukee and hitting 3.9 3s per game (fifth in the league) at a blistering 49.3 percent clip.

Former All-Star center Brook Lopez is trying to rejuvenate his career with the Bucks, and has proven to be a legitimate outside shooting threat who, in a playoff series against the Pistons, could pull Detroit center Andre Drummond away from the rim and keep arguably the NBA’s best rebounder out of rebounding range.

Malcolm Brogdon, Eric Bledsoe and Tony Snell have been shooting the 3-ball well for the Bucks, and rookie Donte DiVencenzo is struggling now, but is a natural shooter who should come around.

Ironically, the Bucks’ best player rarely takes 3-pointers. Giannis Antetokounmpo is just an overall dominant force and MVP candidate who is averaging 26.1 points, 13.7 rebounds and 5.1 assists per game. He is as tough to defend as any player in the world.

Milwaukee coach Mike Budenholzer can make his teams look better than their on-paper talent level. A team like Detroit that often struggles to finish in close games is at a disadvantage when there’s a really good coach on the other bench.