NBA Summer League: Milwaukee Falls to Washington, 83-93

The Milwaukee Bucks Summer League team fell to 1-3 after a slightly less sloppy 83-93 loss against the Washington Wizards.

ESPN Box Score

Milwaukee carried a 25-18 lead after the first period behind some horrific Washington shooting. If you thought the nearly five minute scoring drought last game was nice, then you would’ve loved the over six minute, 0-point stretch we got in this one. The second period finished with the Wizards rebounding to take a 44-38 advantage heading into half. They build that score up in the third, with Milwaukee trailing 59-69 after three. They rallied late after a rough start to the period, but couldn’t pull this one out.

Also, we got a rare Summer League challenge in this one!

In Bucks appearances today, we got Milt Newton on the broadcast. He spoke about George Hill playing with Jrue and how his veteran presence can help calm down the second unit. He also talked about Rodney Hood, mentioning his size, ability to put the ball on the floor and how he can score plus catch-and-shoot. There was little else of note in the interview.

Players That Stood Out

Mamadi Diakite - He had a great start to this game, with two slick finishes at the rim and an extra pass to a driving Mamu who finished with a dunk. On top of that, he kerplunked home an open corner triple. It was nice to see him passing though. Corey Kispert was able to drive past him in the second and get a lay-in, would’ve liked to see him be able to swat that one away, even with the Wiz setting a bit of a pick on him late. In the second half, he continued to do a solid job moving his feet when guards drove on him, but he couldn’t quite disrupt them enough to force a miss. He had 18 points and nine boards on 14 shots, it was his best game in Vegas so far.

Jordan Nwora - I’ve been fairly meh on Nwora all Summer League, but kudos to him for a nice sequence in the first quarter. He finally got going with two straight baskets, and when he had a chance for another decent look atop the key, he instead was able to get a bounce pass to Mamu down low for a trip to the free throw line. A little less tunnel shot vision is good. As a ball handler, one time I saw him make a decent pass splitting the double team to get the ball to the roller. Later, he got flummoxed by the pressure and passed it to the Wiz. He did toss a one-handed pass off a drive to the corner for a triple though. He finished with 18 points on 17 shots.

D’Mitrick Trice - For any Wisconsin fans out there, Trice got some early minutes in this one after rarely appearing up to this point. He splashed home a midrange jumper to pay off the coach’s extra chances for him and nailed a triple in the first. He also tossed up an oop and made some sound passes out of double teams in the pick-and-roll. The rest of his day was nondescript.

Georgios Kalaitzakis didn’t play in this game, and I thought I spotted him in the same shirt on the sidelines as the coaches. Don’t quote me on that, comment if anyone else noticed that; I think he was sitting at the end of the bench with something on his left leg, probably related to that tumble he took in the previous game.

Sandro Mamukaleshvili - We got an early dunk out of Mamu to start this one, but his personal highlight was a merciful end to a six minute scoring drought by taking his man to the block and splashing an and-one on the left block. He also flipped an off-balance pass to Enoch under the rim who was lurking in...the dunker spot. I enjoyed the dish below too. He stuffed the stat sheet with 11 points (on 11 shots), 10 rebounds, five assists and four steals. Still no made three-pointers though.

Here’s where I’m at with Mamu. What about all of you, who in Bucks Summer League past have you preferred or enjoyed watching? Let us know in the comments below.