Well after all the offseason speculation about how the Bucks would theoretically match up against a Nets team that included Harden and Durant, we finally have some sort of idea. Although Kyrie Irving was still missing from action, it was still a great game that had a playoff feel to it.
The stars showed up for both teams through out the game. Durant and Harden finished with 64 points combined, while the Bucks’ trio of Giannis, Middleton and Jrue combined for 81. Overall, Milwaukee didn’t shoot well from the field but managed to stay in the game until the very end. Check out the full breakdown below!
All the Bucks Come to Play
From tip-off the Milwaukee Bucks and Nets went back and forth. A game that was supposed to be about the Nets’ stars started off being about everyone else but them offensively. Early on, Joe Harris and Jeff Green provided the bulk of the scoring. Around the halfway point Durant took over with mid-range shots over Khris Middleton.
Meanwhile Giannis started hot with a quick five points for himself, but the theme of the quarter was how balanced the Bucks’ scoring was. Middleton had eight, Jrue had five, Donte had five, Lopez had four, and Portis had four in the period. After a 9-0 run to end the first, Milwaukee led 34-28 going into the second quarter.
Milwaukee Stays in it Despite Cold Shooting
At the start of the second quarter, Harden was on hot. He racked up a quick five points in less than a minute. Beginning what turned into a poor period for the Bucks.
One interesting note is that when Jrue Holiday guarded Harden, he played him straight up. Otherwise the rest of the Bucks that were matched up with him shadowed his left side like Bledsoe used to. This to me indicates that Bud trusts Jrue more than anyone else’s on-ball defense. Either that or Milwaukee is testing different defenses to be prepared for a potential playoff match.
One positive was Giannis as he put up 11 points in the quarter alone. Scoring from inside, the free throw line and from the three point line. Outside of Giannis many of his teammates went cold. He scored 11 of the Bucks 24 points in the quarter as the Nets took a 56-57 lead into the locker room.
More Third Quarter Woes
Just like the previous quarter, James Harden began the third with five quick points. in the first minute and a half. After holding their own with a couple three pointers, the Bucks fell apart and let the Nets gain a 11 point lead at one point.
Despite Milwaukee shooting relatively poorly they remained in the game due to forcing turnovers and timely play from Jrue Holiday. Draining back to back threes when the Bucks were down big Holiday made the deficit manageable.
At the end of three, Milwaukee was down 89-94.
A Hard Fought Fourth
The Bucks came charging into the final period, starting it with a few great possessions with Giannis as the focal point. He assisted Bryn Forbes twice and flushed a dunk for the Bucks’ first six points, brining them back to within two points of the Nets.
It seemed like the game plan against Harden was to let him take as many floaters as he wants. Once he got passed his primary defender (usually Donte) the post defenders (usually Lopez) would sit back at the rim. James took advantage of the space and scored on his floaters over and over.
Consecutive threes from Lopez and Connaughton gave Milwaukee their first lead since the second quarter at 113-112 with 4:07 left in the game. In the final few minutes Brooklyn and Milwaukee traded shot after shot. After Harden missed a three, the Bucks allowed a crucial offensive rebound to Harden which resulted in an open go-ahead three for Durant.
The Wild Finish
On the following possession, Middleton missed a three himself. With about 27 seconds left the Nets had the ball up two points. They gave the ball to Durant to let him work but he ended up losing the ball as he went up for a fadeaway near the baseline and Lopez got the ball with 5.5 seconds left.
Now at this point Middleton signaled for a timeout to the official but it wasn’t awarded. The refs blew the whistle with what appeared to be well over four seconds left in the game but the clock ran down to 3.5 seconds. Without being shown a replay by TNT, the broadcast came back from commercial and the officials only brought the clock back up to 3.8 seconds.
Down 123-125 Coach Budenholzer drew up a play in which Middleton caught the ball near the corner for three. Meanwhile Giannis began the play on the other side of the half court line and ran down the middle to the hoop. Giannis would’ve had a wide open dunk to tie it if Middleton had passed the ball, but he put up a three instead that ended up bouncing off the rim where no Buck could grab a rebound in time. After 20 lead changes, the Nets held on for the two point win.
Other Notes
The Bucks showed some strange defensive lineups at times. At times Bryn Forbes guarded Harden and Pat Connaughton guarded Durant. It seems like the obvious defense for their two stars would be Giannis on Durant and Jrue on Harden as much as possible but that isn’t what was called most of the game. Let’s hope this was just the Bucks experimenting with different looks for playoffs.
Giannis finished the game with 34 points including 11 in the fourth. He also grabbed 12 rebounds and dished out 7 assists in 40 minutes of play. It was nice to see him out of foul trouble and Bud play him a lot during a game against a top contender. I wouldn’t say it was his best game but he definitely performed well. Maybe the brightest spot of his game tonight was that he went 6/8 from the free throw line. Let’s hope this continues to improve going forward.
The most disappointing player for the Bucks tonight was DJ Augustin. In 19 minutes of play he was 0/7 shooting, had zero assists, zero rebounds, zero steals, and zero blocks. The only stat he showed up in was having two points from the foul line. Going forward he needs to begin playing to his strengths and spread the ball unless he’s open instead of forcing shots.
Milwaukee takes on the Lakers at 6:30 PM CST on Thursday night next!
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