The Milwaukee Bucks put up a very respectable fight on Monday night against the Denver Nuggets. They pushed the defending champs all the way to the end only for the Bucks to come up short, 113-107.
There is still a silver lining to the loss, however, especially when it comes to the improvements Milwaukee showed on the defensive end.
Brook Lopez Speaks Out on Milwaukee Bucks’ Defensive Effort Vs. Nuggets
Monday’s game marked Doc Rivers’ coaching debut for the Bucks and as expected, there were more than a few changes for this team on both ends of the floor. Milwaukee, however, looked like a much better team defensively, which gave players like Brook Lopez a lot of optimism about what this squad is capable of moving forward.
“I thought it was great,” Lopez said of the Bucks’ defensive effort, via Eric Nehm of The Athletic. “We sustained it for pretty much the entirety of the game. There were a couple possessions where I know I myself didn’t quite get to some 50-50 balls. That made a bit of a difference, but overall, you know, our energy was great. Our intent was great. Like [Doc Rivers] said, there’s no excuse on that end because we’ve shown that we can be a great (defensive) team.”
Defense was a major issue during Adrian Griffin’s regime, and the Bucks took a significant step forward in Rivers’ first game in charge. It’s not as if this team has solved all its problems on the defensive end overnight, but there’s no denying that their performance against Denver was encouraging.
The Bucks will want to build on this in their next game when they take on the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday.
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