Every Sunday or Monday I’ll be doing a Bucks Weekly Recap and Look Ahead. Depending how the schedule works, these should be a nice little summary each week of the positives/negatives we saw in each game, the top performers and previewing the week to come.
Milwaukee posted an unblemished record this past week for the first time this season. Three victories, with two over playoff teams and one over a dumpster fire in Detroit. Although you’ll never see me complain about wins, there are always things to point out and mention, good or bad. Let’s dive into the three games that were and take a look at a huge week we have looming.
Bucks 121 Magic 99
Positives
- Portis/Middleton/Giannis all with 20+ Points
- Finished with 15 Steals as a team
- Finished strong with a 37-17 4th Quarter
Negatives
- Lopez’s 6 Points and 3 Reb looked ugly as Vucevic hung 28 Pts & 13 Reb on him
- Giannis Foul Trouble
Bucks 110 Pistons 101
Positives
- Only allowed 13 1st Quarter points
- Jrue Holiday 21/6/5 & 3/5 from 3
- Giannis Triple Double
Negatives
- Couldn’t push lead over 23 (Cheap Negative, I know)
- Shot 64% from the free throw line
- Middleton was ice cold, 5/12 fg & 1/5 3pt
Bucks 112 Mavs 109
Positives
- Bobby Portis’ 13 Reb (5 Offensive)
- Lopez’s best game, 11 Pts 11 Reb and played great defense on Porzingis and Cauley-Stein
- Middleton bounces back with 25/8/6 hitting four from deep
Negatives
- Forced just nine turnovers
- 48% from the free throw line (Giannis was 1/10)
- Almost blew a 14 point lead and were outplayed in the second half
Top Performers This Past Week
Bobby Portis – Another strong week for Portis as he notched his first 20 point performance of the season. He averaged 13 points per game and backed it up with 7.6 rebounds. His effort bled through again with the five offensive boards on Friday as the Bucks desperately needed his energy in that second half. Sixth Man of the Year campaign is fully underway on my Twitter.
Donte DiVencenzo – This was the lowest offensive production we’ve seen in a single week from The Big Ragu this season. However, his defensive effort helped the Bucks wrap up a few games late. Donte led the Bucks in plus-minus against both Orlando and Detroit (he was second against Dallas). For the week, he ended up at a +43 which is REMARKABLE.
Other Weekly Notes
- Milwaukee shot 63% from the line this week including a TERRIBLE 12/25 performance vs Dallas (Almost costed them the game)
- The Bucks averaged ten steals per game this week (league leaders average 10.2)
- For the bettors out there, all three totals went UNDER
The Week Ahead
This week has to be the best crop of matchups for Milwaukee to date. Monday night they’ll travel to Brooklyn to take on James Harden, KD and the Nets. They’ll have Tuesday and Wednesday off before playing three games in four days. Thursday Night, LeBron and company come to town. Friday Night brings in the Wizards and we’ll wrap up the weekend home stretch with Atlanta on Sunday Night.
This will be the first time Milwaukee sees any of these opponents this season and considering they’ve won eight of their last ten, we should be in for some quality basketball.
Looking for more great Bucks content? Follow me on Twitter @_okane__ and check us out @WiscoSportsHeroics1 To dive into more of the articles from our team, click here!
