The Milwaukee Bucks smacked the Miami Heat around in the first half, but nearly let them make things very interesting late. What can we learn from this game?
The Milwaukee Bucks can’t just win a game consistently for four quarters. That would be too boring. To help liven things up, Milwaukee likes to mess around for at least a quarter and see what the other team can do.
On Friday night the Miami Heat were in town. The Heat suck. They were 11-29 going into Friday’s game, meaning only the Brooklyn Nets had more losses. For a proud franchise like the one in Miami, that’s a tough pill to swallow.
Miami’s mounting loss total doesn’t mean the Heat can be taken lightly, though. Goran Dragic and Hassan Whiteside are really good players, and Erik Spoelstra is a fantastic NBA coach. This franchise still has some life in it, even though they’re right at the bottom of the standings.
The Heat showed their life late on Friday, making a game the Bucks led at halftime by 17 end with a point differential of less than ten. Milwaukee will take any wins the team can get, but 116-108 is a tight final score for how good the Bucks played for most of the first three quarters.
Even still, this was a fun game and a good win for Milwaukee. It was also a learning experience. There’s a lot of things that can be taken away from any NBA game, but the following four takeaways seem like four of the most vital from Friday’s action.
Jan 2, 2017; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (34) during the game against the Oklahoma City Thunder at BMO Harris Bradley Center. Milwaukee won 98-94. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports
Giannis Breaks The Internet
I say this as the biggest possible compliment it can be: it’s stupid what Giannis Antetokounmpo can do on an NBA floor. This dude double-clutched a dunk in air and still dunked it. He pump faked a dunk, pretended to pass the ball and then just dunked it anyway.
That’s like if a quarterback threw a football and then somehow caught it himself right as it left his hand and then threw a touchdown. That’s like if a pitcher did his windup and then flipped over and did it again and threw a fastball for strike three. That’s like…I’m not sure there’s anything quite like what Giannis did on Friday, actually.
OMG!! Did @Giannis_An34 just do that!?! ????
YES! Yes he did. #OwnTheFuture pic.twitter.com/cHfm07NsNp
— Milwaukee Bucks (@Bucks) January 14, 2017
That is just unfair. The worst part is that Rodney McGruder played just about the best possible defense he could’ve played there. It just didn’t matter. Giannis is so damn good.
In addition to that mind-blowing dunk, Giannis had a good all-around game. He finished with 19 points, eight rebounds, six assists, one steal and one block. Giannis struggled a bit to score early on, but he made his mark in the fourth quarter when the Heat were threatening to make a comeback.
Making The Extra Pass
The Bucks have been a great passing team early on this season. Milwaukee is currently tied for third in the NBA with 24.9 assists per game. The Bucks put on a passing clinic in the first quarter against Miami.
Milwaukee dropped 42 points on the Heat in that quarter, on the strength of 11 assists. It was a ridiculous quarter of Bucks basketball to watch, in the best possible way. Although it can be tempting to just shove Jabari Parker and Giannis Antetokounmpo the ball over and over again, when the whole team is rolling the Bucks become a really, really tough team.
More than even just ball movement, the Bucks just came out with far more energy than Miami did early. The team grabbed 14 rebounds in the first quarter, compared to just four from the Heat. Miami is the team with the big rebounder in Whiteside, but the Bucks just worked harder than he did.
This extra pep is something Milwaukee needs to work on bringing every single night. The Bucks are young–energy is supposed to be an inherent advantage for Giannis, Jabari and company. It was on Friday, and that led to a massive win in Milwaukee.
Dec 31, 2016; Chicago, IL, USA; Milwaukee Bucks forward Thon Maker (L) celebrates with guard Malcolm Brogdon (rigRht) after defeating the Chicago Bulls 116-96 at United Center. Mandatory Credit: Patrick Gorski-USA TODAY Sports
The Bench Big Situation
In a very unexpected development, Mirza Teletovic seems to have momentarily lost his spot in the rotation to Thon Maker. Teletovic was doing essentially what was expected when he signed in Milwaukee, but he caught a DNP – Coach’s Decision against Miami.
That’s especially noteworthy because it’s not like this was a close game that Jason Kidd decided to use his hottest lineup for. In the third quarter when Thon came in, it looked like a blowout win. Teletovic still didn’t see the floor.
It might not be anything more than a temporary thing, but with Michael Beasley playing like a Sixth Man of the Year candidate lately and Greg Monroe playing like one all season, it was always going to be tough to get minutes in Milwaukee’s frontcourt.
It’s been mostly in garbage time thus far, but Thon is shooting over 50 percent from deep and 60 percent from the field. Teletovic’s quick trigger can be devastating for the opposition when he’s on, but it can hurt the Bucks when he’s missing shots. Maybe Kidd intends on giving Thon a chance to show what he’s made of for real on the NBA level.
Jan 6, 2017; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Milwaukee Bucks center Greg Monroe (15) drives for the basket during the third quarter against the New York Knicks at BMO Harris Bradley Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports
Greg Monroe, Outworking Everybody
Watching Greg Monroe intently is so much fun, both in person and on television. It seems Monroe was sick and tired of people saying he couldn’t play in this new NBA thanks to his low-post style. Thanks to the new way he plays, anybody watching him on a regular basis has stopped saying that.
More from Behind the Buck Pass
Good luck finding a fast break Monroe isn’t running on. Even when the ball is far back on the other end, this dude is streaking down the floor. Usually he ends up beating his cover down there too, resulting in easy baskets.
Moose did that often in the first quarter, starting off a red hot five-for-five with 12 points. He only added four more for the duration of the evening, but two of them came on a great offensive rebound where he got fouled by about three members of the Heat at once, when Miami was attempting to mount a comeback.
That brought energy to the entire building. The fans loved seeing Moose go to work down low and just out-will the opposition to help seal a win. He finished with more offensive rebounds and total rebounds than Whiteside, which shows how hard Monroe was hustling.
The Bucks will look to win again when they take on the Hawks in Atlanta on Sunday afternoon.
