Bucks vs. Nets: Second-half struggles spell disappointment

Poor execution and suspect effort from the top of the roster equals an L

After a dud on Friday night, the Bucks dropped their second game of the year to second less-talented team, falling 115-102 to the Nets at Barclays Center. Cam Thomas led all scorers with 32 for Brooklyn, joined by Denis Schröder with 29. Giannis Antetokounmpo led Milwaukee with 22. Our full summary of the game is here, and you can listen to a six-minute audio recap on the Bucks+ podcast Bucks In Six Minutes below.

What Did We Learn?

This team is struggling with second halves in the early goings of the season. Like on Friday when Milwaukee carried a edge lead into half, things were very close at the break, though both teams struggled mightily on offense. In general, though, I thought the Bucks were playing pretty solid defense despite icy shooting. However, they were only able to grab the lead twice in the third, and after every bucket that made or kept it a one-possession game, a lapse on the other end followed. I looked up some numbers afterwards and as you might expect, not a pretty picture:

That is one terrible defensive rating with a bad eye test to match. Some video to come to that effect below.

But overall, I don’t think defense is currently the biggest issue with the team since we’ve seen them have some very good stretches in first halves. That second-half offensive rating stinks, and it’s not as if it was much better in the first after they could only muster 45 points. I’m not the only one to observe this, but the offense easily sputters when their first action or two doesn’t go anywhere. There’s very little ball movement or off-ball cutting. Too much standing and iso. This is something you’d hope improves once Khris Middleton returns. Last year the offense looked visibly more dynamic when he was on the floor and he’s an important connector for any lineup; he’s typically able to generate good looks for teammates when a possession might not be going anywhere at first. He can’t come back soon enough.

Three Bucks Bombs

Giannis’ numbers are masking some issues with his game.

Aside from the free throw shooting (which was better last night at 8/11), you’d think Giannis was off to a typically strong start this year by looking at his averages through three games: 28.3 PPG on 66.7% shooting with 12.3 RPG and 6.3 APG. He previously had some success in the midrange too before going 1/4 between 15–18 feet in this one. However, those attempts are emblematic of a trend the last two games where he’s just… trying to do too much. Whether it’s tunnel-vision drives into a wall of defenders as we saw Friday or passing up teammates who have much better looks, his numbers feel pretty empty these past two contests. He was the only starter worse than -9 after being -12 against the Bulls. Rarely has the team been outplayed this much with Giannis on the floor after ascended to an MVP candidate, not to mention against weaker competition. This has a lot to do with his surprising lack of effort on defense and on the boards this weekend.

Bobby Portis was a sieve.

We can give him his flowers for another double-double with sixteen and ten, but man, did he look clueless at times in pick-and-roll coverage. This isn’t really anything new from him, unfortunately. What’s more concerning is this:

Shades of Malik Beasley from last year. No excuse to zone out like that and it happened to be the last time the Bucks owned the lead. Like I mentioned before, every time they had a chance to keep a tie or build a lead, there would be a lapse like this on D, and that wasn’t Portis’ only gaffe. It seemed like Brooklyn was targeting Portis on defense and this could continue. Single game plus/minus can be a frought stat, but his team-worst -21 fits.

Dame helped, but not enough.

I put Lillard last here for a reason. Though he didn’t shoot well (5/13 from the floor, just 1/7 from deep), he was efficient with 21 thanks to his eleven trips to the line. That’s good! But like the others, the effort on defense and on the boards was shoddy. He couldn’t box out anyone and was getting bodied on screens by a 6’3” Thomas. He doesn’t need to be Jrue Holiday out there, and he looked a lot more engaged defensively on Friday, so where was that last night? Were Giannis and him saving all their energy for the SEGABABA tonight? That’s the only reason I can think of for their blasé play in Brooklyn, but you have to take care of business against lesser teams, like you did on Wednesday.

Bonus Bucks Bits

• This speaks for itself and dovetails with the video above:

• Morgan discussed the turnover (18-12 in disfavor of Milwaukee) and offensive rebound (12-7 in favor of Brooklyn) disparities in the rapid, though again, the Bucks cleaned up the boards issue somewhat as the game went on. They conceded six offensive rebounds to Brooklyn in the first quarter which resulted in ten second-chance points, but in the final three quarters, those numbers were six and eleven. In all three games already this season, the Bucks have been outworked on the offensive glass, and twice that damage disproportionately came in the opening frame.
• That 21-7 advantage Brooklyn had in terms of second-chance points is also a problem. In each game this year, the Bucks have been beaten in that regard, but the margins in the other two games were in the single digits.
• Schröder has had some big games against the Bucks in his career (15.3 PPG on .448/.400/.922 shooting in 30 matchups), tormenting them with whatever opponent is employing him, and now he has his first as a Net. He’s off to a blazing start in 2024–25 with 20.7 PPG and burying 55.6% of his triples, hitting 5/8 of those on Sunday.
• Pat Connaughton hit Schröder in the face going for a loose ball, a common foul upgraded to a flagrant one after review. For all the times he’s never gotten that call over the years when taking so many hands and even feet to the face… our former leader put it well:

• The three new role players (Gary Trent Jr., Taurean Prince, and Delon Wright) have all looked good so far, though last night was the weakest outing for each of them with a combined twelve points and not much else on the stat sheet.
• Brook Lopez entered last night with a dismal 2/12 mark from behind the arc in his first two outings. He connected on three of five last night so maybe he’s found his stroke. They went to him a few times down low, especially early, and they maybe should have tried it again during the 26 minutes Nic Claxton wasn’t playing (Dorian Finney-Smith was their nominal five in the starting lineup).
• Claxton about the only proven name on the Nets bench. and he was excellent. Otherwise, we saw failed lottery pick Ziaire Williams and someone named Jalen Wilson (I didn’t watch enough college hoops in 2023, I guess) outplaying the likes of Connaughton and AJ Green.
• Andre Johnson scored his first career points in the waning minutes after entering alongside Tyler Smith, MarJon Beauchamp, and Andre Jackson Jr.
• The latter is ok after a single-car accident in Milwaukee yesterday morning.
• Beauchamp threw down a dunk in garbage time, then let out one of those gutteral, satisfied scream that made me think “read the room.” He then… left a dunk short on his next touch. Yes, he left his dunk attempt short and missed it. His fourth-year option is due on Thursday.

Up Next

It doesn’t get any easier for the Bucks; in fact, it gets much harder. They’ll take on the defending champion Celtics in Boston tonight at 6:30 PM Central on FanDuel Sports Network Wisconsin.

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