Bucks vs. Grizzlies: Walking (all over us) in Memphis

Everyone but Giannis struggles as Milwaukee drops fourth straight

Milwaukee desperately needed to right the ship in their final game of the road trip in Memphis after some disheartening performances, but couldn’t make a shot to save themselves, losing 99-122. Giannis Antetokounmpo was the only real bright spot, dropping 37 points, eleven rebounds, and four assists on 77% shooting. For Memphis, they had an even spread of contributors, with seven players scoring in double figures, headlined by Ja Morant, who had a 26-point, fourteen-assist, ten-rebound triple-double. Read our full summary of the game here and catch a six-minute audio recap on the Bucks+ podcast Bucks In Six Minutes below.

What Did We Learn?

There were a few big takeaways from this game. If you’re looking for a positive, it’s that they lost in a more “acceptable way” than previously. There were bad moments, but the main problem was that they basically missed every three they took at 21% on 42 attempts. Prince, Trent, Lillard, Portis, and Connaughton combined to shoot 3/29 from deep. You’re not winning any games shooting like that. Doc Rivers said this game might have been “the greatest ‘make or miss’ night ever.”

“I don’t think anyone would complain about the threes we had. They were wide open. I thought we moved the ball and got great shots.”

However, defence was an issue once again. Memphis had a 40-point first quarter, and Ja Morant was able to get basically anything he wanted in the paint, continuing a theme of pick-and-roll guards having great nights against the Bucks.

“Morant had a free pass tonight, as far as driving and attacking. Now, he’s tough for everybody, and probably tougher for us. So, we’ve got to do a better job of figuring out how to contain guards like that.”

Three Bucks

Andre Jackson Jr. showed some stuff.

After getting inconsistent run in the first four games, Andre Jackson played nearly 20 minutes tonight. Doc spoke about figuring out how the team can contain talented guards. Well, I thought Jackson was pretty good in the department. He is one of the few Bucks with the speed and athleticism necessary to go with Morant on the perimeter. Pat Connaughton has continued to trend downward and played less than Andre tonight. We’ll have to monitor that going forward. But there seems to be a real push from fans for them to just push some buttons and try something different. Jackson could well be a beneficiary of that.

Damian Lillard was almost schemed out of the game.

Lillard ended the night 1/12 and 0/6 from deep. The Grizzlies stayed up and into Dame the whole game, pressing him full court. It is notable that Dame only got up twelve shots, which was part of Memphis’ gameplan. Postgame, Dame spoke about how this style of defence impacted his rhythm.

“If two guys are going to commit to me so I can’t get the ball… and we’re playing four-on-four… that should be to our advantage… if [Giannis] isn’t scoring and we’re getting good looks from three, then eventually, they’ll come out of it.”

“But when we aren’t making them pay, they are going to stay committed to it. So, for me, it is harder to get into the rhythm because on one hand I don’t want to fight it, but on the flipside, you look up and there’s four minutes left and I haven’t gotten much done.”

Welcome to Milwaukee, Delon Wright.

Amid all the bad numbers, Wright managed to be a team-leading +10 in 20 minutes of action tonight. He shot 3/4 from the field and 2/2 from three, with a couple of assists to boot. Hopefully this is the starting point for Delon to feel more comfortable with this team. Theoretically, the team desperately needs what Wright purports to provide, so tonight was a good start, in that respect.

Bonus Bucks Bits

• I wrote extensively about how Giannis will need to play differently for this team to win at the highest level. And although the team couldn’t hit shots, there were some nice moments of ball movement tonight. This example is picture-perfect. You can see Giannis conducting the offence and making quick decisions with the ball, resulting in a baseline dunk. You love to see it!

• I think people overblow how much “walking the dog” truly changes the outcome of games. But this wasn’t exactly a good look for a team trying to make a comeback:

• And just to top it all off, Scotty Pippen Jr. had some shade for Bucks assistant Darvin Ham after the game following their short stint together with the Lakers:

• The caption to this tweet really says it all.

Up Next

The Bucks return home to the friendly confines of Fiserv Forum for the first of two games against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday night at 7:00 PM Central on FanDuel Sports Network Wisconsin.

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