Bucks vs. Rockets: Dame Time Comes Again

Milwaukee scrapes out a well-needed victory

In come-from-behind fashion, the Milwaukee Bucks knocked off the Houston Rockets on a Damian Lillard game-winning layup, 101-100. 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?

Brook Lopez continues to have a major impact on games.

When it was announced Damian Lillard would be returning, Bucks fans were thrilled to see him return to the lineup and re-establish the dynamic duo of himself and Giannis. However, they weren’t inflicting as much damage as they typically do to kick this one off. It was a bit of a slow start from them. However, Brook Lopez was able to jumpstart Milwaukee’s offense and kick it into high gear. Find his 3-point shot early on, he was a major force all night long. He’d end up converting on five threes throughout the night, each one seeming to be bigger than his last. On a night where the Bucks needed his sharpshooting, Brook stepped up. Oh, and we also got this gem from Doc in his postgame:

“I come in the facility yesterday evening. I’m the only one in there watching the Bears about to get their field goal blocked. And Brook was the only other guy in there shooting. And you know, it’s funny…because after they got it blocked, Brook walks into my office and says “I’m shooting, and I see you with your head down on the table. Just wanted to check on you.”

And here’s Brook Lopez confirming it:

“I was shooting free throws and I don’t know. Maybe I should’ve been focusing on my workout but I couldn’t help it. I saw the Bears lining up. It was a pretty far field goal from the looks of it. And so I saw Doc watching. I could see the time, score left. I saw it go up and I couldn’t see where the ball went, but I just saw Doc go *mimics Doc leaning back, putting head in hands, slamming head on table* It was incredible. So, I obviously knew what happened. I was just so happy to be there. That’s the reward for working hard. You get stuff like that.”

Just absolute gold. I’ve been covering the Bucks since 2015 and I think this is the funniest piece of postgame content I’ve ever seen.

Three Observations

Despite the rough return, Damian Lillard made it count.

In his return back to the floor after clearing concussion protocol, it wasn’t the prettiest performance for Damian Lillard. He’d go just 6/18 from the floor and struggle to get into much of a groove. However, when it mattered the most, Dame Time struck again in Milwaukee. With the Bucks down by a pair, Lillard drove to the rack, scooped, and scored the ultimate game-winner. Postgame, Doc gave big kudos to Dame for coming through in the clutch with an awesome comparison:

“Well, Dame just has great courage, you know? Reminds me a lot of Ray Allen in that way. Ray didn’t have a lot of bad shooting nights but if he had one, if he had one shot to make, you still wanted to go to him. And that’s how you feel about Dame. Like, whether he’s on fire or not, he just has this thing in him that he believes that he should take the last shot and make the last shot. And he does it over and over. I don’t know how many — he has to have more than everybody in the league over his career. It’s just amazing.”

Gary Trent Jr. continues to develop himself into a groove.

Off the bench, Trent Jr. continued to stroke the ball from deep. He provided kindling to Milwaukee’s defense, sinking home four threes on the evening en route to 12 points. It has seemed that after every game, Doc has been telling us in the media that Gary has been working his butt off in the gym, getting as many shots up as possible. It’s something that has been there all season long and is the reason why the Bucks brought him in. Postgame, I asked Doc about the spark that he provided in this one:

“Yeah, he’s been great, right? It’s like another guy. And you can tell now that he’s here. He’s got his rhythm. He knows exactly what we need of him. He’s playing, you can see the confidence. It’s a different Gary. And it’s good to see. Like, him and Brook, really him, because he was really struggling. Just so proud of guys like that. You just keep working. They know things aren’t going for them and they just hang in there and he’s done that.”

The Bucks dodged a bullet on the last possession.

On the Rockets’ attempt to hit a game winner, there was some major miscommunication on the switches:

Yikes. In his postgame availability, Doc mentioned that there was clearly some miscommunication, but that he hadn’t seen it yet, but that he knew that guy wasn’t supposed to be open. Thankfully for Milwaukee, Andre Jackson Jr. was able to utilize his speed and race down from the free throw line area and get his hands on the basketball. It’s something that you never want to see defensively, especially in a late game situation like that. However, the Bucks were able to scrape out some luck in that one and walk away unscathed.

Up Next

The Bucks will look to keep their winning streak alive on Wednesday when they continue their homestand and square off against the Chicago Bulls. You can catch the action at 6:30 p.m. CDT on FanDuel Sports Network Wisconsin and ESPN.

Bonus Bucks Bits

• AJ Green started the second half for the Bucks over Andre Jackson Jr., who was in the starting lineup to kick this one off. Despite the blunder on the closing possession, Doc had a flurry of compliments to dish out to Green on the night.
• Some of the moves Amen Thompson put forth tonight were just nasty. He’s an amazing athlete to watch.
• Damian Lillard dished out a season-high 10 assists and scored 18 points for his first double-double of the season. Lillard, who entered tonight’s game ranked 12th in the NBA in assists, is now averaging a team-high 6.9 assists per game this season.
• The Bucks won their third consecutive home game tonight, defeating the Rockets 101-100 to improve to 4-3 at Fiserv Forum this season. After holding Houston to a season-low 100 points, Milwaukee has now allowed 100 points or fewer in three games this season, which is tied for the fifth-most in the league.
• Giannis Antetokounmpo also tallied a double-double tonight with 20 points and 13 assists. It’s the first time this season that Milwaukee has had three players notch double-doubles in the same game and the first such game since Antetokounmpo, Lillard and Lopez all hit the mark on Jan. 20, 2024. The Bucks are the eighth team this season to have 3+ players record a double-double in the same game.
• I know leave you all with the best piece of content I’ve ever created:

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