After the elation of profitable the NBA Cup on Tuesday, the Milwaukee Bucks regarded drained and outdated in opposition to the Cleveland Cavaliers final night time, dropping 124-101 with out Damian Lillard, who missed with a calf pressure. Giannis Antetokounmpo was beneath the usual he set for himself over the previous month and by some means nonetheless had 33 factors, 14 rebounds, three assists, and three steals. Khris Middleton additionally regarded extra like himself, ending with 14 factors and three assists. It was a really balanced assault from the Cavs, with six gamers scoring in double digits, however Donovan Mitchell starred with 27 factors and 6 assists. Learn our full abstract of the sport right here and catch a six-minute audio recap on the Bucks+ podcast Bucks In Six Minutes beneath.

What Did We Study?

This recreation was all the time going to be a slog and really tough to win with out Dame’s potential to get into the enamel of the defence. Having mentioned that, I believed the eye to element was very underwhelming. Perhaps this was all the time going to be a loss, however the way in which the group went about it didn’t precisely encourage a lot confidence. The perfect groups don’t beat themselves, and it was evident that the Bucks weren’t all that dedicated to fixing the puzzle Cleveland offered. Doc spoke concerning the lack of combat postgame:

“We have been flat early. I truly contemplated not taking part in anybody within the second half, actually. I simply thought we have been flat, drained, no matter you need to name it. It was a tricky turnaround—we knew that. We’ve bought to maneuver the ball extra. We didn’t run a variety of stuff tonight. We’ve bought to get extra organised. We don’t do that usually, however we have now video games like that, and when that occurs, we often don’t win these video games. And that was tonight.”

When requested if he discovered something about this recreation, Rivers answered, “there’s no barometer, there’s no learn on tonight’s recreation, I’m simply going to say that. We discovered nothing.”

Three Issues

When Dame is out, you may actually inform.

It’s good that Khris may help with some of the playmaking and scoring that Dame leaves when he’s absent, however this group is actually restricted in these departments with out Lillard. The Bucks rank 24^th in help proportion within the NBA, which implies they rating largely off particular person creation. Fortunately, the Bucks have two of the very best creators within the recreation, to allow them to get by on that technique. However when one in all Lillard or Antetokounmpo is out… there aren’t many others who could make performs. And that was very evident final night time with how typically the offence was lowered to standing round. It’s a weak spot to observe. How a lot can the entrance workplace do about it? Most likely not lots.

“Bucks position participant Whac-A-Mole” was on full show.

It was evident that Andre Jackson Jr. was the very best defender for both Donvan Mitchell or Darius Garland, and on the similar time, this seems to be a actually unhealthy matchup for him on offence—like, among the many worst AJax will run into. The Cavs simply put Evan Mobley on Andre and let Mobley roam, mainly betting that if Jackson needs to shoot from three, advantageous. If he needs to play within the dunker spot and problem the Cavs’ twin towers on the rim, additionally advantageous. So Doc put Trent in, and he was at the very least a menace offensively, however he additionally couldn’t actually restrict both of these guards, particularly Mitchell. That is the place having a Herb Jones-type—a hybrid of those two gamers—can be such a useful deadline addition. However till then, I wish to name this recreation “Bucks position participant Whac-A-Mole.”

Milwaukee solely misplaced badly in a single key space.

As I touched on within the speedy recap, the Bucks misplaced the three-point battle by 30 factors final night time, and that was the sport. However they performed Cleveland to a attract many different key areas. Factors within the paint: Bucks received 48-40. Second-chance factors: Cavs received 9-12. Quick-break factors: Bucks received 10-7. Perhaps that’s a constructive they depart with.

Bonus Bucks Bits

• Bobby had some downright embarrassing efforts on each ends final night time. Chief amongst them, this sequence:

• In stark distinction to his final go to to Cleveland, AJ Inexperienced couldn’t get something going, going 0/4 and a -20. Though, many gamers have been round that plus/minus mark, to be truthful.
• There was some worrying Ryan Rollins footage just a few weeks again the place it regarded as if he didn’t need to use his left arm. Throughout his fourth-quarter run final night time, I didn’t discover any favouring of the correct arm.
• The reply to the playmaking guard query, long run, would possibly truly be AJ Johnson.
• The Cavs figuring out Ty Jerome—and him turning out to be an actual discover—is what the Bucks want to copy if they’re to maximise their probabilities of contending sooner or later with minimal draft picks.
• At the very least former Buck Sam Merrill didn’t mild Milwaukee up, ending 1/5 from deep.

Up Subsequent

The Bucks are again at dwelling tonight in opposition to the Washington Wizards at 7:00 PM CST. Watch the sport on FanDuel Sports activities Community Wisconsin.

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