No Giannis, no problem for the Milwaukee Bucks tonight. While the reigning MVP wasn’t on the court, he made his presence felt on the sideline. Wearing a headband and facemask, Giannis was seen celebrating and goofing around after every made shot by his teammates. When all was said and done Milwaukee defeated Indiana 140-113 for their seventh consecutive victory on Monday night.
Bucks on Fire from the Start
As soon as the opening tip off, Milwaukee couldn’t be stopped. They came out red hot and got out to an 11-3 lead before getting on another run to go up 24-7. It appeared the entire team couldn’t miss and the ball was moving great. As a team the Bucks opened the game making eight of their first nine three pointers (89%).
With Giannis out, Pat Connaughton made his first start of the season and stepped in beautifully. In direct contrast to Giannis, Pat did almost all of his damage from behind the arc. Finishing with 20 points and going 6/7 from three, Connaughton had one of the best games of his Milwaukee career tonight.
Speaking of best games as a Buck, Jrue Holiday may have had his best as well. All game long Jrue kept the offense flowing with his shooting and passing. Finishing with 28 points on 5/6 from three and dishing out 14 assists. Jrue had a spectacular game as he led all scorers.
PJ Tucker Injured
In some negative news, PJ Tucker left the game with an ankle sprain. He initially was removed from the game in the second quarter as he was checked by trainers but came back in the third quarter momentarily before being pulled for good. Hopefully the fact that he was able to play for a while is an indication it isn’t too serious. He could really use some conditioning to prepare for the upcoming post season push since he hadn’t played much for Houston this year. We’ll monitor the situation going forward.
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Brogdon and Turner Missing for Pacers
Prior to the game it was announced Malcolm Brogdon and Myles Turner were going to be out. Brogdon was dealing with a lower back injury and Turner has an ailing ankle. It seems both players are day to day so maybe they were scratched after it was announced Giannis would be out.
Either way, Indiana really could’ve used them tonight as they couldn’t defend anything for much of the game. Milwaukee finished the game with 24 three pointers made out of 39 attempts, and made 56.4% of their shots overall. Maybe Turner and Brogdon could’ve helped slow down some of the offensive onslaught, nonetheless it was a great game for the Bucks.
Brook and Budenholzer Spat
Late in the third quarter, Brook Lopez and Coach Budenholzer had a heated exchange. After the Pacers gathered an offensive rebound and drained a three, Budenholzer yelled at Brook from the sideline. Prompting Lopez to yell back as he ran down the court and plead his case. It appeared Budenholzer must’ve believed Brook missed an assignment on the defensive end while Lopez believed he was doing what he was supposed to. The interaction spilled over to the sidelines during a timeout for a few minutes. Lopez entered the game again in the middle of the fourth quarter and everything seems to have been worked out. Lopez finished the game with 18 points in 19 minutes.
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