The Bucks finally gave fans a stress-free win
In a delightfully easy watch, the Milwaukee Bucks all but led wire-to-wire against the Toronto Raptors, coming out with the 128-104 victory sans Khris Middleton. Damian Lillard had his best game since returning from sickness, notching an efficient 25 points in 25 minutes. Giannis Antetokounmpo had a visually satisfying 11/12/13 triple-double (editor’s note: an excellent Rummikub opener), while Portis, Trent, and Rollins combined for 47 off the Milwaukee bench. For the Raptors, RJ Barrett and Scottie Branes combined for 46 points, and their other three starters of Quickley, Dick, and Poeltl contributed 34 in total. 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?
The Bucks finally started to “play right” as Doc often says. The ball wasn’t moving well at all in the previous games. The team had just 25 assists against the Blazers; last night, they had 37. Rivers credited Giannis, who had 13 assists in 28 minutes, as the catalyst for that turnaround:
“He set a tone to start the game with his passing. I thought that set the whole tone for our team, and when your best player does that, it becomes contagious… I thought we did a great job moving the ball.”
On one hand, it’s great that the team can flip the switch and decide to move the ball more often. On the other hand, you wonder why they hadn’t been making a point of doing that before. Regardless, this game was a step in the right direction.
Three Observations
By winning the three-point battle, Milwaukee was able to easily paper over some other holes.
The Bucks lost points in the paint 40-54, fast-break points 6-23, and second-chance points 8-12, but won the game by 24 because they made 13 more threes than Toronto. Milwaukee is an excellent three-point shooting team, ranking second in the NBA in percentage at 38.8%. However, they rank 13th in three-point attempts. This should tell the team that they need to move the ball, get guys advantages, and kick out to open shooters on a much more regular basis.
Dame got his groove back on both ends.
Lillard’s offence came pretty easily in this one, which was not necessarily surprising, given the Raptors ranked dead last on defence over the last five games. Anyhow, it was good to see Dame get going and start to look more explosive out there after being sick. His three-ball—which had deserted him for a few games—was rolling, going 5/8. But Doc also singled out Dame’s focus on the other end:
“He did [play well] offensively, but I thought it was one of his best defensive nights. He had great defensive focus. I always joke with our guys about the basketball gods. If you play hard defence, the basketball gods will reward you with offence, and I thought that happened for him tonight.”
Dame credited his improved defence to feeling better after the sickness:
“Each game, I’ve been feeling better and better, just coming off being sick… I think tonight, I just had better energy… I just tried to be focused into the scouting report, paying attention to tendencies, and just be disciplined in those things… knowing that if we got stops and we’re not taking the ball out, it means they can’t pressure us and slow us down offensively.”
This team is dangerous when the bench is producing.
To the point of moving the ball, that benefits the bench guys the most, in my opinion. The stars are going to get their numbers one way or another on most nights, but the bench guys need to play off the stars. Guys like Trent, Green, and Rollins are not really play starters, they are play finishers. And man, oh man, did those guys look great playing off second-side actions and spot-up situations.
Bonus Bucks Bits
- Although he played well overall, Giannis did rack up seven turnovers, which is way too many. They seem to most often come when he over-dribbles on the perimeter trying to take on pressuring defenders too much.
- Gary Trent Jr. returned to Toronto for the first time since leaving in free agency. I’m sure the tribute video and embrace from the Raptors fans felt great.
Welcome back, Gary pic.twitter.com/ltPgcJAUNy
— Toronto Raptors (@Raptors) January 7, 2025
- After a few games where his impact wasn’t felt as much, Andre Jackson Jr. was able to make a real difference last night. Along with having three offensive rebounds, my personal favourite part of his game was his passing out of the short roll. For example, this play:
- Giannis sustained a laceration to his hand trying to block a shot after he turned the ball over. Hopefully, the stitches he needed aren’t too hindering and he’s able to play against the Spurs in a few days.
Giannis Antetokounmpo needed three stitches on his right hand. He obviously finished the game but it also affected his ballhandling. #Bucks play San Antonio in a couple days. #NBASky
— Jim Owczarski (@jimowczarski.bsky.social) 2025-01-07T03:03:48.362Z
- Gradey Dick, who hurt Milwaukee in the first game between these two teams, went 3/12.
- AJ Green had five fouls, yet another high-foul game for him. It is becoming a somewhat concerning trend.
- (Stanley Umude shot 100% from three. #FreeStanley) (editor’s note: On one attempt)
Up Next
The Bucks return home to face Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday. You can watch the game at 8:30 PM Central on ESPN, FanDuel Sports Network Wisconsin, or stream it on our Playback and YouTube channels.
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