Milwaukee vs. Brooklyn: Bucks Fall To G-League Nets

Well, with the Brooklyn Nets practically sitting every key contributor on Tuesday afternoon versus the Bucks, it seemed like Milwaukee would coast to victory. Instead, they came away with a 119-116 defeat.

The Bucks, not shockingly, were able to gain control when Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton played in the first half, but that was all the action they saw. It was pure bench mob after that!

Three Observations

This game does not matter - but it still is not fun to lose! The Bucks surrendered a ton of good looks from deep in the loss and Brooklyn burned them for 21 makes on 36.8% However, they did hit a bevy of tough, heavily-contested shots, too. I was more concerned about the sloppiness of play than the defense. The Bucks turned the ball over 18 times against Brooklyn which, fortunately led to only seven points. Everyone is rusty, no question about it, but these seeding games are flying by and the playoffs are right around the corner. The Bucks get another stiff defensive test on Thursday afternoon when they take on the Miami Heat.

Frank Mason III played one hell of a game. He came off the bench to play 18 minutes and contributed 11 points, two rebounds, and four assists while making 4-of-9 shots from the floor. When he got the ball he was constantly pushing the pace and looking to attack/collapse the defense. His quickness led to a handful of open shots and was creating a bit of a problem for Brooklyn’s defense. He had one spectacular move to the basket to free him up, but he underlaid the finger roll. He finished plus-5 and was a big reason why the Bucks were able to hang around with the suddenly hot-shooting Nets in the second half.

The D.J. Wilson experience...wow. He was mostly awful in 14 minutes of play, shooting 3-of-11 from the field and 1-of-6 from deep. Has there ever been a time where he did not bite on a pump fake? His highlight of the afternoon was when he put Donta Hall (?) on a poster in the final period. Other than that, he was bricking open shots and missing wide-open layups. Yikes.

Bonus Bucks

• He only played 16 minutes, but Giannis was still “Giannis.” He made 7-of-8 shots from the field for 16 points while adding six rebounds and four assists. He also sank two three-pointers and his form on those looked much better. He was putting more arc on it and putting his knees into them a bit more. Nice!

• Point guard Eric Bledsoe returned and looked...rusty. He finished with eight points on 1-of-5 shooting and missed a few rotations on defense. Rust was to be expected here.
• Khris Middleton added eight points in 16 minutes.
• Kyle Korver contributed 13 points and three makes from deep. He’s looked quite alright after the hiatus.
• Marvin Williams...what a great addition. He’s constantly throwing his body all over the court, diving for loose balls and fighting for offensive rebounds. He finished a team-high plus-17 in 23 minutes off the bench.
• Donte DiVincenzo had a nice bounce-back game - finishing with 11 points, four rebounds, and six assists in 24 turnover-less minutes.