The Other Guys step up to seal a road victory
Harboring a small two-game losing streak, the Milwaukee Bucks looked to get themselves back over .500 in a mid-day matchup against the Brooklyn Nets. It would take a stretch of small ball dominance late to seal the victory, but the Bucks do leave the Big Apple winners, 118-113.
Game Recap
As you’d expect from a matinee start, neither team came out of the gates on fire—the Bucks would go 0/2 and Nets 1/8 in a strange series of opening possessions. Milwaukee struggled to find much success passing the ball inside the three-point line, turning it over or threatening to do so for much of the early phase of the first. The deadlock was eventually broken by Giannis Antetokounmpo (34 points, 11 rebounds) with his uniquely bruising approach to the hoop. Brooklyn would begin to find their touch from distance (5/11 from three in the frame) with the Bucks keeping pace through smoother team shot-creation paid off by Khris Middleton and Bobby Portis. That same efficient offense (and a heroic dive/save/assist by Giannis for a Trent Jr. three) generated a closing 8-0 Bucks run and a 27-25 lead after one.
The start of the second was the Damian Lillard passing and Portis scoring show for Milwaukee. While Lillard was quiet scoring for himself through much of the game he kept the Bucks offense moving off drive-and-kicks assisted by an outstanding Bobby tough shot clinic—all nine of his first half points were crucial in keeping things close. Giannis’s return to the floor signaled the restart of his isolation attacks at the paint with a quicker trigger kicking out, although continued tough shot making (and some relatively easy looks inside) by the Nets meant there was never much distance opened up between the sides. Brooklyn would head into the half up 52-51.
Much of the third was a continuation of the iso-heavy approach from Giannis with a modicum of success, but there were stretches of trading twos for threes in which the math looked less-than-stellar. Milwaukee’s defense had a tough time keeping a firm lid on Brooklyn’s ball movement and three-point shot creation, and a 12 point Nets lead late in the third looked very imposing. However, the Bucks turned things around as a unit late, benefitting from contributions across the lineup to salvage the frame. Tie game after three, 86-86.
While the defense struggled to stabilize for about six minutes in the fourth, tough shot making on the part of Gary Trent Jr. in particular kept Milwaukee afloat. The key tone shift happened when the lineup of Dame, Jackson Jr., Middleton, Portis, and Antetokounmpo took the floor with about five minutes to go. While Brooklyn (read: Schröder) got another contested look or two to fall, the Bucks went into a switch-heavy defensive scheme which largely shut down Brooklyn’s avenues of attack. Portis was crucial late hitting a pair of threes and having some decisive stands defensively, blocking Schrõder and generating a two-on-one that Giannis would finish to help solidify Milwaukee’s lead. After some free throw games to decide the final score Milwaukee would leave 118-113 winners.
Stat That Stood Out
60 to 17
That was the disparity in bench scoring in Milwaukee’s favor. Bobby Portis had his best night of the season with 23 points on 9/10 shooting (and 5/5 from three) with three blocks, Trent added 20 points (6/10 overall) in his highest scoring output as a Buck, Khris Middleton 11 points and 8 assists, and AJ Green 6 points on 2/2 from three. Their additions popped up when the team most needed them with the scoring tiding over stuttering defense and Portis’s inclusion in a small-ball lineup late helping slam the brakes on Brooklyn’s attack. This game was going to take more than Giannis to get over the line, and the bench stepped up.
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