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Game 4: Bucks 117 – Pelicans 113

The Bucks took on the winless Pelicans in New Orleans tonight as Milwaukee looked to get back to .500 in this young season.

The starting lineup for the Bucks was:

Matthew Dellavedova

Tony Snell

Giannis Antetokounmpo

Jabari Parker

Miles Plumlee

The Pelicans’ starters were:

Tim Frazier

E’Twaun Moore

Dante Cunningham

Solomon Hill

Anthony Davis

The Bucks started the game with a turnover after winning the tip, which is not ideal. The Pelicans then went on a 5-0 run, but designated rally killer Tony Snell put an end to that before it got too out of hand with a nice 3-pointer. The Pelicans jumped out to an early lead that they held onto for most of the first quarter, but the Bucks did an excellent job staying right there and even briefly taking the lead. By the end of the first New Orleans had just a slight edge, 32-29. Anthony Davis and Solomon Hill led the Pelicans with 6 points apiece, while Snell led all scorers with 7 first quarter points.

Giannis kicked off the second quarter with a hook shot to bring the Bucks within a point, but they couldn’t quite take the lead from the Pelicans early in the second. They tied it up a couple times and had a few chances to take the lead, but weren’t able to do so until midway through the second on an 8-0 run capped by a Malcolm Brogdon jumper. From there, the Bucks put their foot on the pedal and built their lead for the rest of the quarter. Milwaukee went into the locker room with a solid 63-54 halftime lead after winning the second 34-22. Anthony Davis had 15 points and 7 rebounds going into halftime, and Snell nearly matched him with 10 points and 7 rebounds of his own.

Giannis started off the second half with a monster dunk off a Delly feed to give the Bucks a double-digit lead. Both teams basically traded baskets from there, but the Bucks didn’t let the Pelicans get any closer than within 8 points until midway through the third quarter when New Orleans went on an 11-0 run to cut the lead to one point. From there, the game got real tight, and the Pelicans ended up on top by the end of it with an 86-84 lead, winning the third quarter 32-21 on the strength of a late run.

Malcolm Brogdon kicked off the final quarter with a floater to tie the game up, and the Bucks were able to regain their lead shortly thereafter. They quickly built it back up and relieved the nerves of Bucks fans everywhere as they forced a Pelicans timeout midway through the fourth after going up 101-93. From there the Bucks cruised the rest of the way as they didn’t really let the Pelicans threaten too much (they got within 2 points a few times, but the Bucks, particularly Giannis, responded quickly each time), and the fourth quarter ended with a 117-113 Bucks win.

Three Big Things

Anthony Davis – Well, the Bucks contained Anthony Davis about as well as you can hope to, limiting him to “just” 35 points (somehow below his season average), 15 rebounds, 3 steals and 3 blocks. While this is an eye-popping statline, it’s looking like Davis is going to need to put up 40-50 points a night to start racking up actual wins for the Pelicans. Well, that or his team is going to need to start helping him out just a bit more.

Jabari Parker and Giannis Antetokounmpo – The Bucks’ young dynamic duo led the way as usual tonight, with Giannis turning in a double-double and another near-triple-double (24 points, 7 assists, 10 rebounds) and Jabari Parker putting up 21 points on 7/14 shooting. When these two are on, the sky’s the limit for the Bucks this season and beyond. One note, though, is that Giannis’s plus/minus was +12 while Parker’s was -4.

Matthew Dellavedova and Malcolm Brogdon – Two of the newest Bucks also made significant contributions tonight. Delly put up 11 points, 8 assists and 5 rebounds as he kind of had a mini-version of Giannis’s statline. Brogdon had 14 points (including a late, crucial and-one), 4 rebounds and 4 steals, and also had a great plus/minus rating with +10. If Brogdon keeps playing like this, he has a very bright future in Milwaukee.

Plus/Minus Hero

Plus/minus hero honors tonight go to Tony Snell, who has already been very impressive in his first few games with the Bucks. He seems like a better fit for this team than MCW was (no disrespect), and he showed it tonight with a +13 rating on the strength of a 13 point, 10 rebound double-double in 33 minutes of action. Snell shot 5/12 from the field and 3/9 from distance, but each 3-pointer seemed to come at a crucial time for the Bucks.

Tune in on Thursday night at 7:00 PM CT as the Bucks take on the Pacers to try to go above .500 for the first time this season!