What does Patrick Beverley bring to the table for the Milwaukee Bucks?
What does new guard Patrick Beverley bring to the table? Bucks reporter Jim Owczarski offers his thoughts on the Point Forward Podcast.
The Milwaukee Bucks returned to action against the Denver Nuggets on Monday night after two days off and defeated the defending champions 112-95, earning their best win in two weeks since Doc Rivers came off the bench.
Milwaukee led by 28 points after the third quarter, at which time Denver head coach Michael Malone sat out two-time MVP Nikola Jokic.
The Bucks (35-19) produced another strong defensive effort on Friday after giving up a season-low 84 points to Charlotte and it was the first time they have won consecutive games under the former head coach since winning three consecutive games on Jan. 20-24. Win the game. Adrian Griffin and interim head coach Joe Prunty.
box score: Bucks 112, Nuggets 95
“It feels good,” Giannis Antetokounmpo said of the win. “I’ve said it, me personally, I don’t care, I don’t mind if we stack two in a row, if we stack five in a row, if we stack 10 in a row. Like, it doesn’t matter to me. I love when the team moves in the right direction and I think as a team we’re doing that.”
The Nuggets (36-18) lost for the second consecutive time.
Antetokounmpo led all scorers with 36 points on a remarkable 73.6% shooting (14-for-19). It was the ninth time this season he made 70% of his shots. He also pulled down 18 rebounds and dished out five assists.
Damian Lillard overcame early foul trouble to score 18 points, including 14 in the decisive third quarter, in which the Bucks extended a 60–44 halftime lead to 91–63. Bobby Portis added 13 off the bench.
Jokic led the Nuggets with 29 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists. Aaron Gordon (14) and Michael Porter Jr. (11) also reached double figures for Denver.
Brook Lopez, Bucks once again make Nikola Jokic tough
On January 29, the Milwaukee Bucks leaned on the phrase “what’s old is new again” when Rivers blew up Mike Budenholzer’s game plan against two-time league MVP Jokic. Center Brook Lopez started one-on-one on Jokic — followed by Antetokounmpo — but the wings flashed strategic double teams at different points, causing a half-beat pause in Jokic’s offensive flow.
So, while Jokic recorded one of his 15 triple-doubles with 25 points, 16 rebounds and 12 assists in a win over the Nuggets in late January, the Bucks were pleased with his impressive shooting effort. Jokic was only 10 of 25 (including 1 of 6 from behind the three-point line) – it was his sixth-worst shooting night of the season and his worst shooting night since December 25.
Jokic’s individual offensive rating (points per 100 possessions) was just 105.8, one of his least effective outputs of the season. For context, he came into Monday’s game with a personal offensive rating of 122.5
Rivers said one thing the Bucks couldn’t accomplish in the game plan was going small at the five with Antetokounmpo and forcing Jokic to run with the Bucks’ MVP candidate, mainly because of Antetokounmpo’s foul trouble.
Unfortunately for the Bucks, this issue reared its head again on Monday as Antetokounmpo picked up two fouls in the opening minutes of the game. But the team stuck to a similar game plan with Lopez tracking the big man inside the three-point line and employing quick double-teams and recoveries.
This also required Lopez to play the entire first quarter, matching Jokic’s minutes. It was the first time this season that Lopez played a full quarter.
“Obviously Nikola being as big as he is, it makes it as hard as possible for him,” Antetokounmpo said of Lopez. “I don’t think there are many players in the league who can guard Jokic alone. And Brooke had a lot of wealth so she did it. He makes it as difficult as possible. …He can take that hit. Many people cannot bear that bump down and still cannot contest the shot. He is capable of doing this. Nicola is very, very talented. Although I think Brook did a great job when he played with him, guarding him one-on-one, you’ve got to help. You have to make it a little crowded. This is not one man’s job. The whole team has to make it as difficult as possible.”
Jokic scored 14 of the Nuggets’ 23 points in the quarter, but he was 6 of 12 from the field. The rest of his team combined to take 13 shots and Jamal Murray went scoreless on two attempts.
“He’s a very intelligent defender, uses his length,” Rivers said of Lopez. “He knows what he can’t do. I think we’re understanding what he can’t do and we try not to put him in those positions. Plays on that little fall, but the whole Didn’t kind of fall down. That’s a tough player, probably the toughest player in the league to have any kind of fall with and yet Brooks stopped the ball and recovered a ton. That’s a great thing.”
Then in the second quarter, Antetokounmpo got a brief start on Jokic, but the overall defensive intensity on the Nuggets’ big man remained the same. He would finish on 4-6 by scoring nine points in the final seven minutes of the first half, but it remained a solo effort as the rest of the Nuggets only scored 21 points. He also had three turnovers compared to his four assists.
“I mean, he’s obviously totally capable of it,” Lopez said about Jokic taking on more of a scoring role. “The part where we’ve been great is, you know, it’s not one person’s job. We have been very good at tying all five together, supporting each other, helping the helper and scrambling, we are actually doing a very good job of it.
And with that, Lopez felt that his teammates were incredibly effective in sending help.
“It’s (various),” the Bucks center said of his assists. The most important thing is obviously to work in our system. Hopefully, mostly we are working within our own systems, but if we go rogue or if we see something without caring – either way – as long as we are vocal and telling everyone so we can take a Can move forward as.
The effort helped the Bucks build a 22-point lead in the first half before taking a 60-44 lead at the break.
did you notice?
In the first quarter, 6-foot-2 Damian Lillard stepped up to stop the 6-11 Jokic at the free throw line — which disrupted the big man’s drive. Jokic then turned awkwardly to fire the ball toward a teammate behind him, but it went too high and the Bucks’ Jae Crowder picked it up to start a break that ended with Antetokounmpo’s basket. .
This was just a small example of how the Bucks used a team effort to frustrate the two-time league MVP and force him into situations that weren’t entirely to his liking.
Jamal Murray slowed by Bucks, hampered by inflammation
Dynamic Nuggets guard Murray scored 35 points on 13-22 shooting when the Nuggets swept the Bucks on Jan. 29, but he didn’t get a chance to lead the way on Monday night. His first field goal did not come until a minute left in the first half, and he was just 1 of 5 in his first 18 minutes of play.
“He killed us, right, that night (in January),” Rivers said. Malik (Beasley) and those guys, they heard it a lot. I mean, obviously they’re fed up with it. But we showed them the game last night (against Charlotte) where we weren’t picked on at all. And then we followed it up with just running it in picks. Murray is going to take hard shots anyway, but if you’re going to run into a pick he’s actually going to make them. I thought we did a great job of overcoming and fighting through the challenges.”
Murray’s night ended on a break due to a foot injury.
Milwaukee had struggled against opposing guards throughout the season, allowing one to score 30 or more points on 25 occasions.
number 5
2 It’s been several weeks since Doc Rivers has been on the bench and the Bucks are 3-5.Pat Connaughton: “For us it’s all about getting better every day, so if it’s been two weeks, it’s not something that I think people have really thought about. It’s not something that people Realized that. We’re so focused on trying to be better, trying to get everybody on the same page. They’ve done some of the things we’ve already done, putting some of that into structure, “Have done a great job of putting together and simplifying some of the things we already do well as well as adding some things that I think will help us in the long run.”
5:19 Denver went a period from the end of the first quarter to the beginning of the second quarter without a field goal. This allowed the Bucks to turn a 23–21 deficit into a 38–24 lead. The Bucks were never behind again.
Antetokounmpo: “I think people were trying harder, closing the gap, obviously trying to make it as difficult as possible, forcing the non-shooters to shoot, the shooters. were forced to keep the ball on the floor, showing off to the crowd as much as possible. At the end of the day, they would have a team with everyone pushing the ball – show the crowd early, give them the extra pass Give them an extra effort. Eh, we were obviously, probably, lucky. It was a stretch for them. We were making it tough and probably not scoring on the ball.”
8-3 Bucks record in games Khris Middleton has missed this season.
10-5 Denver’s record against Milwaukee when Nikola Jokic and Giannis Antetokounmpo both play. The Nuggets are 0-2 when Jokic sits against the Bucks, and the Bucks are 0-1 against the Nuggets when Antetokounmpo sits out.
19 Points The Bucks scored off 13 Nuggets turnovers.
When will Khris Middleton be back?
Middleton sprained his left ankle after running into Kevin Durant’s foot on February 6 in Phoenix and left the Footprint Center that night in a walking boot. Although he did not need support on his ankle when the team returned to Milwaukee on February 8 against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Rivers called it a “bad” ankle sprain.
With the All-Star break taking place from February 16-22, it is likely that Middleton will not return to action until the team returns at the earliest.
“It’s not going to heal quickly — probably at 21 (years old),” Rivers said with a laugh at Sunday’s practice. “With Khris, probably all of our guys but the more experienced guys, listen, I want to win every game right now but I really want to be great at the end of the year. And the bottom line for me is that we have to be healthy. That’s basically, sitting down with our medical people, one of the first things I said. I am not a coach who will motivate people to play. I’m the coach right now, he’ll sit guys down and train and prepare because no matter what happens, if we all win and aren’t prepared – or lose all and aren’t prepared – I’ll take it. This should be our mentality. We want to win every match. I am extremely competitive. I don’t like losing games. But, we want to be prepared.”
