Milwaukee vs. Utah: Bucks fall to a Barrage of Threes

Well, it was a franchise night for the Utah Jazz. Their franchise record 25 3-pointers would propel them to a victory Saturday night at Fiserv Forum, 131-118 over the Milwaukee Bucks.

Giannis Antetokounmpo was a strong force for the Bucks in the opening quarter with his 16 points, but Milwaukee still found themselves in the hole vs. the Jazz after one. The main separation factor? Utah’s 3-point shooting. They’d connect on nine threes, going 9-of-17 from beyond the arc. Despite Milwaukee’s 1-of-8 shooting from deep, they got things done in the paint, resulting in a 34-31 advantage for the Jazz going into the second.

The Bucks’ offense would continue to struggle vs. the 3-point ball in the second. The Jazz would keep on peppering in shots from deep, totaling five more in the quarter. That’d push their halftime total to 14 threes. Jordan Clark provided a massive spark off the Utah bench, totaling 23 points in the first two quarters. Milwaukee would find themselves down 65-58 at the halfway point in this one.

Milwaukee would be unable to put any sort of a dent in Utah’s lead throughout the third. Instead, the Jazz would constantly flirt with a double-digit advantage and exhibit control of the game and be in control heading into the fourth.

It’d be tough for the Bucks to generate any traction in the fourth to slice into the Utah lead. Five minutes would pass before the Bucks finally chipped away, at the courtesy of a Giannis slam. Ultimately, that would prove to be the nail in the coffin, as the Bucks couldn’t muster any momentum that would get them over the hump. The Jazz would escape Milwaukee with a 131-118 victory.

What Did We Learn?

Right from the get-go, the Bucks found themselves down in this one. After the Jazz would convert on nine three pointers, it pretty much set the tone for the rest of the evening. They’d continue the devastation throughout the remainder of the game, and it’d be difficult for the Bucks to get anything going. A lack of bench play really made it difficult for Milwaukee to mount any sort of momentum needed to catapult themselves back into it, as there was not a single bench player that tallied over four points. When that happens, it’s going to be tough for the squad to win a ballgame.

Three Observations

There was no significant bunch contribution.

As mentioned above, the Bucks didn’t get any real significant effort from anybody on their bench. Plain and simple, that will make things difficult. Rookie Jordan Nwora would contribute the most, but that was just with four points. Yeah — not too exciting. We’ve seen some flashes throughout the early part of the season, but you just need more from the bench squad. I understand that there are injuries, but you don’t want to get comfortable with seeing outings that show just two points from Bobby Portis and Bryn Forbes. Milwaukee will look to rebound with their bench effort tonight vs. Cleveland.

The Bucks were unable to dig themselves out of a hole.

The Jazz would connect on a franchise record 25 3-pointers, and right out of the gates after the first quarter (when Utah hit nine threes), you sort of knew that things would be uphill for the Bucks. Last year, we saw that one of the common ingredients that teams would need to beat the Bucks was a hot shooting night, which is exactly what the Jazz did in this one. Ultimately, Milwaukee was just uninspired on the offensive end and couldn’t dig themselves out of the early deficit. In fact, I don’t think they led from the second quarter on. Obviously, the poor bench play has a part in this one, but still, you’d hope to see a stronger offensive output from the Bucks as we move forward.

Giannis and Khris led the way for the Bucks again.

As we’ve become so accustomed to see, Giannis and Khris Middleton led the way once again for the Milwaukee Bucks. Giannis would finish with 35 points on 14-of-25 field goal shooting, tallying 35 points. Meanwhile, his All-Star counterpoint concluded his evening with 31 points on 11-of-19 shooting, including 3-of-8 3-point shooting. It’s quite nice to know that you’re going to get such solid efforts from these two night in and night out. It’s just frustrating when they’re the only ones exhibiting any real offensive output, which was the case last night. When that’s the case, the Bucks tend to be in trouble, and the Jazz took advantage.

Bonus Bucks Bits

• First off, I want to say I miss being in Fiserv Forum covering games. I felt like I was able to bring a unique perspective to everyone in these Extended Recaps, but alas, we are in a pandemic. Instead, I’m “covering” this game from the living room of my apartment. Hopefully things get back to normal soon!
• Also, it sucks being a YouTube TV subscriber and not having Fox Sports Wisconsin. I’m now being forced to watch Bucks games on streams, which are becoming increasingly tough to find. Get it together, Sinclair.
• I was a little appalled by how long Bud kept the starters in during this one. It was well past the two minute mark before he finally pulled the plug, but it was well-known that the Bucks were out of it long before that. Thankfully, no unnecessary injuries occurred.
• The bench is a theme of this recap, and DJ Augustin is a part of that. So far, he hasn’t panned out to be the signing that the Bucks had hoped he would be. 0 points on 0-for-4 shooting is just abysmal.
• I still do not why the Jazz are located in UTAH. I was just in Utah. There is nothing about that place that screams Jazz. Natural beauty? Yes. Bryce Canyon National Park and Zion National Park are simply gorgeous. But it has NOTHING TO DO WITH JAZZ. Change their team name. Change it now. MAKE THINGS RIGHT.