Milwaukee Bucks: Takeaways From Win Over Brooklyn Nets
It was definitely too close for comfort, but the Milwaukee Bucks are now winners of their last four games, thanks to their win over the Brooklyn Nets on Saturday evening.
Dec 3, 2016; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Milwaukee Bucks forward Jabari Parker (12) grabs a rebound against Brooklyn Nets center Brook Lopez (11) in the fourth quarter at BMO Harris Bradley Center. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports
Having already took care of them less than 48 hours ago, the Milwaukee Bucks once again upended the Brooklyn Nets for their third straight meeting, winning 112-103.
Although the Bucks ended up taking both games in their home-and-home series with the Nets, this time proved to be a much tougher contest than how Thursday night played out.
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After going back and forth for the opening quarter, the Bucks started to take control of the game in the second quarter and led by as much as ten points at halftime.
Following the Bucks’ hot start in the second half, however, the Nets started to chip away at their lead, in large part to their three-point offense (8 of the Nets’ 11 threes for the night came in the second half).
Dwindling the lead down to three points at the end of the third, the Nets continued their three-point barrage to take control of the game not long after the start of the fourth quarter.
That forced Bucks head coach Jason Kidd‘s hand to turn to the team’s starters in hopes to take ahold of their game for good. That worked out well in the Bucks’ favor as they slowed down the Nets’ hot shooting while adding in some much needed scoring to put the finishing touches on the game.
So with that, let’s turn our attention to what, or more importantly, who stood the most in the Bucks victory over the Nets.
Dec 3, 2016; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Milwaukee Bucks forward John Henson (31) takes a shot against Brooklyn Nets center Brook Lopez (11) in the second quarter at BMO Harris Bradley Center. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports
Hooked On A Feeling
Following up his solid performance Thursday night, John Henson was back at it again last night for the Bucks. Likely to everyone’s surprise, Henson finished the game as the team’s leading scorer with 20 points on 11 shots.
That was in large part due to both Jabari Parker and Giannis Antetokounmpo attracting defenders to only then lay it up to Henson for the score (all but two of Henson’s field goals were on assists from Giannis and Jabari). Here’s just the best of the bunch with this behind the back beauty from Giannis to Henson.
When Henson wasn’t finishing from in or around the rim, he was connecting from the free-throw line as he converted 6 of his 7 free-throw attempts for the night, tying his career high in makes. Along with that, Henson added in 7 boards, 2 assists, 2 impressive swats and finished with a +20 in nearly 27 minutes.
Arguably the biggest takeaway on the night though was how well the starting group played again with Henson in the fold. For this game, the starting 5-man unit with Henson rounding out as the big man were a +16 in 19 minutes, per NBA.com/stats.
We’re now running on a week of great, consistent performances from Henson and the chemistry with him primarily playing alongside the starters has really started to take shape. Here’s to hoping we continue to see it more.
Oct 29, 2016; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Milwaukee Bucks guard Matthew Dellavedova (8) dribbles the ball as Brooklyn Nets guard Sean Kilpatrick (6) defends in the second quarter at BMO Harris Bradley Center. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports
Schlotzky’s Delly
From one starter to another, let’s turn our attention to everyone’s favorite Australian, one Matthew Dellavedova (if you were expecting to see a middle name there, I’m sorry to disappoint).
Outside of Giannis, I’m not sure anyone else gave the Bucks the shot in the arm they needed, during some critical times, more than Delly did last night against the Nets.
Even without any three-point makes on the night, Delly was as effective as he’s been scoring the ball, primarily probing the paint and using his patented floater to finish for the score. With a perfect night from the line (six-for-six) to go along with his makes from the field, Delly finished with 18 points for the contest.
As has been the case for most of the year, Delly’s steady playmaking was on display as he regularly connected with either open shooters or players cutting to the lane for the score. Additionally, he only finished with 1 turnover on the night.
In total, Delly handed out 6 assists and finished with a +15 to go along with his high scoring game in his near 27 minutes. It’s still early in his tenure, but we can safely say that this game was the best we’ve seen of Delly in a Bucks uniform so far.
Dec 3, 2016; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Milwaukee Bucks center Greg Monroe (15) and Brooklyn Nets guard Randy Foye (2) reach for a loose ball in the first quarter at BMO Harris Bradley Center. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports
Our Steady Dose Of Moose
We’re now a few games past our Greg Monroe-gate, where we all were wondering why his minutes suddenly shrunk or were nonexistent with little explanation.
Now back in the rotation playing as the backup big to Henson, Monroe has resumed to playing at the level he was playing at before we were inspecting his body language on the bench or counting how many head bobs he had casually dancing to the music in the arena (Okay, that might have been me. Also, it was 17.)
In his 21 minutes, Monroe scored 13 points on 10 shots, giving the offense the boost they needed at various times. He also added in seven rebounds as well, practically matching his season average at this point.
Continuing what he has done for the majority of the season, Monroe played with great energy on the defensive end, often disrupting routine passes with his active hands. As a result, he finished with four steals, all coming in the first half, along with a blocked shot.
Sure, there have been better games from Monroe this season, or even since his benching/demotion/who knows? was lifted. With that said, how he played Saturday was just a reminder of how much of a surprise his performance, primarily defensively, has been for much of the year so far.
Dec 3, 2016; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (34) looks to pass against Brooklyn Nets forward Rondae Hollis-Jefferson (24) in the second quarter at BMO Harris Bradley Center. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports
The Age Of Giannis Is Upon Us
Well, the time has come in our recap where we have to talk about Giannis.
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If you were just looking at his box score line, you’d probably say this may have been one of Giannis’ more quieter nights so far this year. There was no career high-tying scoring performance like he had earlier in the week against the Cleveland Cavaliers as well as no triple-double alert either.
Offensively, Giannis was very reliable, scoring 16 points on just nine shots, while also regularly making it to the line eight times (although he only converted on five of his free-throw attempts).
One of his better scores on the night was from downtown and it was noticeably in rhythm and without hesitation.
As mentioned earlier, Giannis had some flashy dimes all throughout the game as he finished with six assists in nearly 35 minutes (though it did come with three turnovers).
Where Giannis really flexed his muscles, so to speak, was on the defensive end. This may be some good ol’ fashioned recency bias, but it’s hard to come up with a better defensive performance of Giannis’ not just this season, but in his young career.
From the get go, Giannis was a nuisance playing passing lanes to come up with ridiculous interceptions and when it was needed most (i.e. the fourth quarter), he was there to take away what would have been easy lay ins at the hoop. I mean, just look at this stuffing on Bojan Bogdanovic.
Not enough for you? How about this absolute denial on Sean Kilpatrick late in the game?
In a season where he keeps making us pinch ourselves just to see if we’re dreaming, Giannis keeps on taking his play up to new heights, with this time showing what a man of his many abilities and gifts could do defensively on a given night. With that, it’s not hard to spell out (TOPICAL!) what this could mean for him as well as the Bucks very soon.
The four-game winning streak for the Bucks will certainly be put the test as they’ll next take on the San Antonio Spurs Monday night at the BMO Harris Bradley Center.
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