Should We Be Worried About The Milwaukee Bucks?
From the battle of Barnes and Mobley to the Bucks’ continued struggles, we had some interesting things to talk about last night. And I broke everything down.
New York Knicks (115) vs Milwaukee Bucks (98)
This game was so weird. After the Bucks dominated the first quarter with their hot shooting, the game was seemingly over. It’s not easy to come back from down 19 points to the defending champions, but the Knicks did that and more. For the next 3 quarters, the Knicks dominated and ended up winning by double-digits.
A tale of two games mixed into one? I have to break this one down.
New York Knicks
The Knicks had themselves a good roller-coaster game. After looking like crap early on, they got things together on both sides of the ball and won handily. They are 6-3 on the year and just beat the defending champions. Knicks fans are on Cloud 9 right now.
3 Quarter Domination
After the first quarter, the Knicks were down by 19 points. They shot just 32% from the field and the game was already over. But just like turning on a switch, the Knicks flipped this game on its head.
Knicks From 2nd Quarter to End:
46% FG – 21/26 FT – 17 ORB – 17 2nd Chance Points – 18 Points Off Turnovers – 10 Steals – 44 PITP
Yeah…that’s just utter domination. The Knicks didn’t scorch the Nets from deep like they’ve done routinely to start this season. They used their defense.
10 steals and 18 points off turnovers? That’s a recipe for success. The Knicks dominated the last 36 minutes of this game, outscoring the Bucks by…wait for this one;
34 points.
Yeesh
Julius Randle Is Still Good…In Case You Forgot
Through the first couple of weeks of NBA action, the Knicks hadn’t been winning because of Julius Randle. Randle, who was incredibly good last season, has taken a backseat to start the season. His numbers were down and he didn’t look like an All-Star.
But this was his best game of the season, reminding everybody just how good he is;
11/22 FG – 7/10 FT – 32 points – 12 rebounds (5 ORB) – +13 plus/minus
Randle had himself a game. He was a monster on the offensive boards, just eating up space down low for easy 2nd chance points. He hit some shots out of the post and got to the free-throw line as he did last season.
While the Knicks have been winning without Randle dominating, they need him to be an All-Star-caliber player to have success in the playoffs. The roster is much better suited for Randle and he just has to perform.
BING BONG!
Milwaukee Bucks
The Bucks have been hit the hardest with injuries so far this season. They still don’t have Donte DiVincenzo back, Jrue Holiday and Khris Middleton have missed time, and things haven’t been pretty. That was best exemplified by this atrocity of a game.
The Bucks just ran out of steam after the first quarter, as relying on their usual bench warmers wasn’t enough to win this game.
Just Get Healthy?
I might have jinxed the Milwaukee Bucks. Coming into the season, with Kyrie Irving out, I thought they were the favorites to win the title. The only reason they could be stopped…was injuries, something that didn’t hit them hard last season. I might have been a little too right in that assessment.
The Bucks have been injury-riddled this season. They have been missing a lot of key contributors and that’s the biggest reason they’re currently 4-5. Let’s go down the list.
Jrue Holiday
Holiday played just 18 minutes on opening day before leaving with an injury. Since then, he’s hardly played. He missed 5 straight games and in last night’s game against the Knicks, he played just 20 minutes.
In total, he’s played just 3 games and a total of 63 minutes. The Bucks have played 85% of their minutes without Jrue Holiday this season, which isn’t a recipe for success.
Khris Middleton
Middleton was off to a slow start this season, but a duo of Giannis and Middleton is good enough to win in the regular season. But then Middleton got Covid-19.
For both the Bucks and my fantasy team, that’s a big blow. Middleton has missed the past 3 games, where the Bucks are 1-2, and he’s set to miss more time.
Role Players
Donte DiVincenzo hasn’t played at all this season, still recovering from foot surgery last season.
Bobby Portis missed the first 4 games of the season and has missed 5 games in total.
Brook Lopez played 28 minutes in the season opener. He hasn’t played a single minute since due to back problems.
With all of these injuries, the Bucks have been left thin. They’re having to play George Hill, Semi Ojeleye, Rodney Hood, and Giannis’ brother big minutes. They are just stretched unbelievably thin right now and it’s going to have to be like this for a while.
Injuries suck.
Mobley vs Barnes: Part I
{Bruce Buffer voice}
IT’S TIME
The two best rookies so far this season. A 7-foot unicorn who can do it all vs an incredibly versatile two-way wing. Who will win?
Evan Mobley
Mobley was 7/14 from the field and finished from 18 points. He continued to look poised down low, but he made two plays in this game that 7-footers shouldn’t be able to do.
- On the fast break, Darius Garland passed the ball to Mobley at the hash-mark. Nearly 30 feet away from the basket, most centers can’t function. Evan Mobley is the outlier. He took just one dribble and galloped into the lane. He finished high off the glass for the and-one.
- Mobley got the ball on the right block with under 4 seconds left on the shot clock. This far out, with that little time, most centers would be rendered useless. Again, Evan Mobley is the outlier. He turned, with a hand in his face, and just calmly drained the 10-foot baseline jump shot.
Those two plays from Mobley really stood out to me. His ability to do things that most other big guys just can’t do. Mobley also did a really good job of guarding Scottie Barnes in this game. He closed off his airspace really well and made it hard for Barnes to get by him.
Overall, a fantastic game from the USC center.
Scottie Barnes
Scottie Barnes has exploded early on this season with his impressive play. The 6’9″ wing is a very unique player. His half-court offense was poor in college, but he’s had no problems scoring in the NBA. His defense remains solid and he’s been one of the more pleasant surprises from this year’s rookie class.
And while Barnes struggled shooting in this game, he did the other things well. Raptors fans wished he could have won the game, though.
Barnes shot just 7/19 from the field in this game. He struggled over the lengthy Mobley and he didn’t look confident shooting his jump shot. These types of games are bound to happen to Barnes, who isn’t a polished scorer in the half-court yet.
Barnes had a chance to win the game with his tip shot at the buzzer, but even that, like most of his shots on the night, came up just short.
But there’s a reason Barnes was still a +5 plus/minus on the night. He did things other than scoring well.
He had 3 offensive rebounds and 9 in total, continuing his impressive rebounding for an undersized Raptors team.
Of Barnes’ 4 assists of the night, his one in the 3rd quarter to Gary Trent Jr. was a beauty. Off of a deflection, Barnes immediately just fired the ball inside to a wide-open Gary Trent Jr. From the time Barnes collected the loose ball to the time GTJ scored was instantaneous. Very impressive for a rookie to make that kind of pass.
Oh yeah, Barnes had two great blocks. One was a volleyball spike into the 3rd row off of Ricky Rubio. The other was a great recovery on fellow rookie Evan Mobley.
So who won this matchup? Both rookies had really good games and both contributed a lot to this game. In the end, I have to give the edge to…
Scottie Barnes
While Mobley wins in the scoring department, Barnes did everything else well. His rebounding and passing were excellent in this game and he won this matchup.
Barnes: 1
Mobley: 0
Portland Trail Blazers (110-106 W)
Wait? You’re telling me that we won this game? With Damian Lillard (still) struggling? When we were down late in the 4th and had to rely on other guys? Impossible.
But it’s true. The Blazers finally won themselves this thing called a basketball game. Even without any scoring punch from Dame, other guys stepped up and we rallied back late for the win. It wasn’t pretty, it required some luck, but hey, a win is a win.
Great Start and Great Finish
For once in their lives, the Blazers started a game off well. The energy really wasn’t there during the 3-game losing streak, but it was there in this game. Portland was relentlessly attacking the rim, bullying Indiana out of the gates.
The Blazers started this game on a 17-4 run. The defense was great, there weren’t stupid possessions, it was efficient basketball. While you want to see this for more than just 7 minutes in a game, you’ll take it nonetheless.
Hey! That Dame guy even made a shot! All is well.
Now the time in between the great start and finish was murky. The Blazers were still leading by double-digits in the 2nd quarter but Indiana clawed back. The offense became stagnant in the 3rd quarter and Indiana burst into the lead. With 4:48 left, the Blazers trailed 101-92. These types of games are the ones that Portland usually loses.
But we won this game, but not thanks to Dame and CJ. We needed some luck and some RoCo magic to win this one. The sequence of events in this game was crazy.
3:55: Robert Covington three-pointer. Blazers trail 101-98.
3:39: Caris Levert misses a (semi-open) layup.
1:48: After taking the lead, another Robert Covington three-pointer gives Portland a 107-103 lead.
34.5: Dame gets burned by TJ McConnell who has an easy layup in front of him – he misses. Blazers lead 107-106.
14.7: Robert Covington makes Indiana pay for their sins. A dagger 3-pointer to put the game away. Blazers win 110-106
Portland went on an 18-7 run over the final 4:48 of this game. Robert Covington hit three 3-pointers. Indiana had 3 turnovers. Now that’s how you CYA*.
C = Cover
Y = Your
A = Up For Interpretation
The X-Factors Were Great
With Dame struggling again, the offense needed to come from somewhere. While we normally look to CJ for answers, we needed more from the others to win this game. We got that and more last night;
Norman Powell: 8/14 FG – 25 points
Powell’s offensive game was simple in this game: layup or 3-pointer. Not that hard to follow.
Early on, Powell helped Portland with their assault of the rim. As the game went on, he nailed three 3’s from the corners, finishing with an efficient 25 points.
This is really all Powell has to do on a nightly basis. Put pressure on the rim and hit some 3’s.
Anfernee Simons: 6/10 FG – 4/6 3-PT – 16 points (bench)
Anfernee Simons bet on himself. It’s working.
Simons has been off to a great start this season, doing the same things he did last year. But with Dame’s offensive struggles, we’re relying on Simons a lot more. He’s come through.
Simons hit some big 3’s in this game, including back-to-back treys in the 4th quarter that preserved our lead. He’s been having a great season and proving to be a great 6th man off the bench for us.
Robert Covington: 7/12 FG – 5/10 3-PT – CYA guy – 19 points
Robert Covington might not be with the team next season. But this is why he was brought in last season. When he’s shooting well, his value is immense.
He’s one of our best defenders, but we needed offense from him in this game. We got it.
He knocked down 5 3’s, including three massive ones in the 4th quarter. He also earned the title of ‘CYA,’ because he really covered our “up for interpretation” tonight.
What’s Neil Olshay up to nowadays?
What Are Your Thoughts From Last Night’s Games? Leave A Comment Down Below!
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