Milwaukee Bucks center Brook Lopez continues to make his case as the Defensive Player of the Year this 2023-24 season.
On Wednesday against the Indiana Pacers, Lopez played a pivotal role as the Bucks edged Tyrese Haliburton and Co., 140-126. While Lopez finished with just six points, he made his presence felt on the defensive end where he tallied six blocks.
In doing so, Lopez became the first player this season to have at least five games with five or more blocks in each, per Stat Muse. The Bucks big man, who is now averaging a league-high 2.9 blocks per game, has recorded four of such performances in November against the New York Knicks, Toronto Raptors, Charlotte Hornets and Washington Wizards.
Lopez’s best one came against the Knicks where he tallied eight blocks in a 110-105 victory for New York. While some would think that the likes of Victor Wembanyama and Chet Holmgren would be having the most five-plus block games considering their height and rate that they try to defend shots, that’s not the case. Wemby actually just has three of such outings, while Holmgren has two.
Brook Lopez is certainly playing his role with the Milwaukee Bucks to perfection. Alongside two of the most potent scorers in the NBA in Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard, he knows he doesn’t need to score a lot for the team. What he needs to bring is his toughness and defense inside the painted area, and he’s definitely doing just that.
While the Bucks’ defensive rating this 2023-24 season has been ugly, it’s certainly to no fault of Lopez. He’s protecting the paint as he should, though Milwaukee is still reeling from the exit of Jrue Holiday who used to anchor the perimeter for them.
It remains to be seen if Lopez will be able to win the Defensive Player of the Year award, but considering the work he’s doing for Milwaukee, he definitely deserves to be in the conversation.
Milwaukee Bucks Make Plenty of History vs. Indiana Pacers
Brook Lopez’s personal season milestone aside, the Milwaukee Bucks have plenty of other things to celebrate on Wednesday.
While the game ball-stealing issue is a bit disappointing, it shouldn’t ruin the fact that both Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard etched their names onto the annals of Milwaukee and NBA history.
For the Greek Freak, his 64-point outing against the Indiana Pacers is not only a career-high, it also broke Michael Redd’s single-game record for the most points.
As for Dame Time, he moved up to Top 5 on the NBA all-time 3-pointers list. Entering the game, he needed just two to surpass Kyle Korver’s 2450 career triples. And that’s exactly how many he made to secure history.
With the way the Bucks are playing, don’t be surprised to see them make more history moving forward.
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