TLDR: The first Bucks team without Giannis Antetokounmpo since 2012-13 comes to Minneapolis on Monday, November 2, and runs into a Timberwolves team that has just lost its own franchise player to the operating table. Both teams are missing their stars, but only one of them is missing its defense.
A 1-5 Milwaukee team in its first season after the Giannis trade visits a 4-3 Minnesota team that just lost Anthony Edwards to knee surgery for up to 2 months. The Bucks' defense has allowed 127 or more points in 4 of their last 5 games, and the Wolves are trying to replace Edwards' scoring by committee. Rudy Gobert's back injury is the open question that shapes the matchup inside.
+Facing a defense that has been giving up big totals
−Edwards out up to 2 months after knee surgery
−Gobert's back kept him out in San Antonio
−Backcourt minutes going to Dosunmu, Shannon, Hyland
Start with Milwaukee, because this one is ugly. The Bucks are 1-5 and have lost 2 straight. Their only win came against Indiana, and the 2 most recent losses at Fiserv Forum were blowouts: 132-100 to Houston, then 136-111 to Cleveland. In the Cleveland game a 1-point Bucks lead turned into a 26-point halftime deficit after the Cavaliers dropped 48 on them in the 2nd quarter. That is what a full reset looks like. The Giannis trade sent him and Bobby Portis to Miami for Tyler Herro, Kel'el Ware, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Kasparas Jakucionis and 3 first-round picks. There is a new head coach in Taylor Jenkins and 2 lottery rookies in Brayden Burries and Nate Ament. The offense has been fine, scoring 125 against Chicago and 116 in Philadelphia. The defense has given up 127 or more to 4 of the last 5 opponents.
Minnesota has its own crisis, and it's a newer one. Anthony Edwards had arthroscopic surgery on his right knee after an MRI found new damage, and the team says he could miss up to 2 months. That hurts more because of how he started the season: 133 points through his first 4 games, a franchise record, including 47 in the overtime loss at Cleveland. Chris Finch has said the scoring has to come from everyone. Ayo Dosunmu, Terrence Shannon Jr. and Bones Hyland are the backcourt options to take Edwards' minutes, and one of them will probably start in his spot.
The bigger question for Monday may be Rudy Gobert. His back kept him out of the 121-111 loss in San Antonio, where he was ruled out on game day, and there's been no word yet on whether he'll be back for the Bucks. Without Edwards, Gobert and Donte DiVincenzo, the Wolves still led 61-60 at halftime on the second night of a back-to-back before the Spurs pulled away. Gobert's status decides how Ware and the Bucks' frontcourt get to play inside.
The most encouraging thing the Wolves have done without Edwards was a 127-101 win over the Clippers at Target Center the night after his surgery. They spread the scoring around and didn't look like a team that had just lost its best player. The Spurs loss on the road the next night was a step back, but they stayed close for 3 quarters with 3 regulars out. Both teams played on October 31, so both get the same rest going into Monday, and neither has another game before this one.
So the matchup is a Milwaukee team that can score but has been getting run off the floor in single quarters, against a Minnesota team that has to find offense without Edwards. Herro and the young Bucks guards will get a backcourt that just lost its best player, and the Wolves get a defense that has trouble stopping anyone for 12 straight minutes. Tipoff is 7:00 PM CT. If Gobert plays, Minnesota has the clearer identity. If he doesn't, the two rosters are closer than their records suggest.
