National Basketball Association

Milwaukee Bucks: Takeaways In Loss To Dallas Mavericks

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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The Milwaukee Bucks came crashing down to Earth Sunday night with their overtime loss to the Dallas Mavericks, losing 86-75. With that, we take a look at what the stood out the most in the game.

Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

Coming off of their thrilling performance against the Sacramento Kings, the Milwaukee Bucks fell hard (and then some) to the Dallas Mavericks last night, losing 86-75 in overtime.

The Bucks were thrown off of their rhythm early on, due to Giannis Antetokounmpo getting into foul trouble. While the Bucks were able to avoid any stumbling blocks in the first quarter, their gameplan, as well as their effectiveness, started to unravel midway through the second quarter.

That played right into the Mavericks’ hands, especially since they were without two key starters in Dirk Nowitzki and Deron Williams for the night.

The game slowly started going in the Mavs’ favor as the second quarter went on and the Bucks were left looking for answers heading into halftime.

From then on, more and more mistakes kept piling up for the Bucks and left them with more questions to answer. However, the Mavericks left as many openings as the Bucks did to take control of the game (the Bucks led by 6 midway through the fourth quarter).

But once again, the offense completely dried up for the Bucks, scoring only just six points in the final six minutes of regulation. While the Mavericks’ offense was largely level with the Bucks, it was enough for them to storm back and force an overtime period that they took care of handily.

Derailing their three-game winning streak, the loss to the Mavs brought out the worst in the Bucks in many ways. As great as the game started, how it finished overshadowed the team’s high points and left a sour note on an encouraging week of games for the Bucks.

So with that, let’s go into what stood out the most for the Bucks in their loss to the Dallas Mavericks.

Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

A Tale Of Two Halves For Jabari

Before the real story of the game presented itself, the opening minutes of the game were about Jabari Parker‘s red hot start.

One by one, Parker quickly filled up buckets by hitting five of his first seven shots and most importantly, showed the confidence in his jumper we’d all like to see him have on a regular basis.

With Giannis on the bench for almost the entire first quarter, Parker was the anchor the Bucks needed to help keep them in their rhythm and it looked like it would continue as it crept into the second quarter.

But as we know, that wasn’t the case and as the ship known as the Bucks offense slowly started to sink midway through the second quarter, Parker went down with it. That coincided with his matchup, Harrison Barnes, starting to get hot from the field and he would later finish with a career-high 34 points.

In a team-high 39 minutes, Jabari finished with 16 points (on 8-of-16 shooting from the field), 7 rebounds, 4 turnovers and -19 plus-minus.

There’s enough there to like from Jabari’s performance, even despite his later struggles. The confidence, the aggressiveness and the composure were all there at the beginning of his game. Nonetheless, it’s tough to overlook what later went wrong for him and we can only hope it was more out of the ordinary, considering the circumstances.

Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

Going Down Under

Of course, the Bucks as a whole were the biggest ones to suffer with Giannis’ foul trouble and the effects it had on the game as it went on. But on an individual basis, the player who was most affected by Giannis’ foul situation was Matthew Dellavedova.

With an increased workload starting shortly after the opening tip, Delly struggled to make an impact offensively for the majority of his 33 minutes.

It was a stark turn from how Delly started the game. His only points for the game came shortly after Giannis picked up his second foul, thanks to his patented floater. Not long after, Delly found his first four assists for the night, which were all made in the first six minutes of the game.

Slowly but surely, though, Dellavedova’s effectiveness wore off and the mistakes started to pile up for the 26-year old Australian. When it was all said and done, Delly finished with five turnovers and a team-worst -21 plus-minus.

We’ve only seen Delly in a Bucks uniform a handful of games now, but this was by far his most forgettable effort of the bunch. All that he can do now is just move on to the next one.

Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

Keepin’ It Steady, Moose

Without many consistent contributors in contrast to their last three games, the nearest one the Bucks had on their hands last night was Greg Monroe.

In his 28 minutes of action off the bench, Monroe logged a double-double, scoring 14 points (on 5-of-10 from the field and a perfect 4-of-4 from the line) and 12 rebounds.

Monroe was looking as spry as ever early on in his time on the court, wreaking havoc on both Andrew Bogut and Salah Mejri for a couple of crafty scores in the first quarter. Once his scoring chances came fewer and far between, Monroe relied on his suddenly steady defensive play to help remain a factor in the game.

Moose added in three steals to go along with his double-double and kept up the solid defensive play that he’s shown to start the year, despite finishing with a -1 plus-minus. That was enough for head coach Jason Kidd to stick with Monroe with the game on the line near the end of regulation.

But like many other Bucks, the biggest negative on Monroe’s night were his turnovers as he, like Delly, was credited with five turnovers on the night.

Nonetheless, in a game where there were plenty of negatives to focus on, Monroe did his best to contribute in numerous ways to keep the game within distance.

Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

Losing The Turnover Game

As mentioned a few times already, arguably the biggest reason why the Bucks came away with the loss was their incredible amount of turnovers.

Without much surprise, the Bucks lost the turnover battle to the Mavericks very handily, losing 27-12. From drawing charges, countless amount of bad passes and to even a few mental mistakes here and there, the Bucks’ turnovers knew no bounds last night.

As a result, the sloppy play of the Bucks left them looking for a rhythm throughout much of the night, to no avail. Although the Mavericks only scored 21 points off of those 27 turnovers, it was exactly enough to breathe life into their own struggling offense.

On an individual level, Giannis joined Monroe and Delly in the five turnovers club, which now gives him 13 turnovers in his last three games.

Being shorthanded, the Mavericks fully brought the game down to their terms and were much more comfortable operating than the Bucks looked starting midway through the second quarter.

Now we’ll have to wait a few more days to see how the Bucks follow up this loss when they take on the New Orleans Pelicans on Thursday night.