The Milwaukee Bucks needed Dame Time in Arizona but they did not have Damian Lillard with the team. Instead they got Brook Lopez. . . who missed the shot. Bucks lost to the Phoenix Suns, 106-108.
But it was not like Lillard was sorely missed by the team. In fact, they had a chance to win it if only they made right decisions in crunch time.
That shot was Lopez was a product of bad execution according to the Splash Mountain himself. The 37-year-old center was not supposed to be the first option.
“Giannis was supposed to go first and then AJ was supposed to screen off that,” he said as quoted by The Athletic’s Eric Nehm.
Knew this play was cooked as soon as Giannis faded out to the 3pt line instead of curling for a lob. https://t.co/vXTAn0QFFL
— Bucks Breakdown (@Bucks_Breakdown) March 25, 2025
The Bucks, fresh off a confidence-boosting win against the Sacramento Kings, needed a game-tying or winning shot in a little over one second after Devin Booker made a mid range shot to steal the lead, 108-106. Before that, Lopez missed one of the two free throws he earned which could have given them the 107-106 lead.
Doc Rivers agrees with Brook Lopez
Head coach Doc Rivers had the same explanation.
“AJ kinda went too early, knocked Giannis off stride. Because we wanted Giannis to come up. Then, he was supposed to pick Brook and Brook was going over, so it is what it is,” the coach said.
However, he clarified that that was also a good shot and that that was not the reason why they lost the game.
Although both Lopez and Rivers blame the execution, the former thinks they still had a good shot.
“We didn’t execute it to the best. I think it was our first time doing it, but the intention was there and ‘Kuz’ made a great pass to me where I was able to just line it up. It felt like a good look. That was one of our options there and it felt great to me.”
Bucks will finish their five-game road trip in visit to the Denver Nuggets in Colorado.
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