As the Milwaukee Bucks look to beat the Chicago Bulls in back-to-back games -- and for the first time on the road since Dec. 10, 2013 -- 3-pointers might just be the key to this contest.
The Bulls aren't shooting 3s like they used to. Chicago has the largest negative differential in 3-pointers attempted per game compared to last season. In 2015-16, the Bulls made 7.9 3s per game. This season, just 6.0 (and Chicago is making just 21.6 percent of its 3s over the last five games).
Milwaukee has been just the opposite.
Last season, the Bucks made 5.4 3s per game while averaging 15.6 attempts. Twenty-four games into the 2016-17 season, those numbers have increased to 8.6 and 24.6.
Milwaukee's differential of +3.2 makes is the third-largest increase from last season, behind just Brooklyn (+4.5) and Houston (+3.8).
The 2015-16 Bucks had only four regulars who made 0.5 3s or more: Jerry Bayless (1.9 in 52 games), Khris Middleton (1.8), O.J. Mayo (1.3 in 41 games) and Rashad Vaughn (0.6). This season, that number is seven, with four averaging 1.0 or more per game, not including part-time Vaughn.
BUCKS 3-POINTERS MADE PER GAME IN 2016-17
| PLAYER | 3s/GAME |
| Mirza Teletovic | 2.0 |
| Tony Snell | 1.5 |
| Jabari Parker | 1.2 |
| Matthew Dellavedova | 1.1 |
| Rashad Vaughn | 1.0 |
| Malcolm Brogdon | 1.0 |
| Jason Terry | 0.7 |
| Giannis Antetokounmpo | 0.6 |
| Michael Beasley | 0.3 |
| Thon Maker | 0.3 |
The biggest increase has been by Parker, who made just 0.1 3s per game last season. Parker already has 29 3s this year compared to 13 combined in 101 games over his first two seasons. (He's also making 36.7 percent of his 3 attempts this season compared to just 25.5 percent his first two years.)
With that in mind, it should come as no surprise that Parker -- along with Antetokounmpo -- is third in the NBA in largest improvement in points per game compared to last year, at +5.7.
Other notes:
-- Milwaukee isn’t just about 3s, of course. The Bucks are third in the NBA in dunks and layups per game at 19.0, behind Houston (19.7) and Oklahoma City (19.1).
-- Antetokounmpo has back-to-back 30-point games. The last Milwaukee player to score 30+ in three straight was Mo Williams from Feb. 5-11, 2008.
-- The Bucks are fourth in the NBA in percentage of points scored by players under the age of 25 at 50.8 percent.
-- Chicago's Jimmy Butler is fifth in the NBA in scoring increase from last year (and he averaged 20.9 ppg in 2015-16). Butler has five consecutive 20+-point games vs. the Bucks.
-- The Bulls' Dwyane Wade has struggled in back-to-back games this year thus far. In three of these occasions his points per game is 12.0 while making just 28.2 percent of his shots.
-- The Bucks have lost their last seven games with zero days' rest, including 0-4 this season.
Statistics courtesy STATS and basketball-reference.com
