The Bucks rounded off their 6-game preseason with a great game against the Pacers, winning 111-103.
The two teams played a tight first half with the Pacers going up 25-24, and it looked like the game was getting away from Milwaukee as Indiana went up 38-28 midway in the 2nd quarter. The Bucks responded with a 14-2 run, however, on their way to a 55-52 halftime lead. At the half, Giannis led with 12 points, Teletovic followed with 11, Plumlee had 10 and Parker had 9 as almost four Bucks had double-digit points in one half! Unfortunately, Giannis also had 4 turnovers and Parker had 3 of his own in the first half.
The Pacers started the second half with a 7-0 run on their way to going up 85-82 after 3 quarters. Luckily, in the fourth quarter, Milwaukee bucked their tendency to go cold in the second half as they closed out the game and the preseason with a huge 29-18 advantage. Even though it’s just the preseason, it never hurts to go out with a bang.
Three Big Things:
Putting Up Points – The Bucks had 6 players (Giannis leading the way with 20, followed by 19 from Jabari Parker, 14 from Teletovic, 13 from Malcolm Brogdon and 10 each from Miles Plumlee and John Henson) in double figures, with Delly just missing the mark with 9 points of his own. Milwaukee not only had a great offensive night but spread the points around, which is always great to see in preseason action. Hopefully this translates to a lot of shooting options when it comes to the regular season.
Turnovers – You can’t get too hung up on negatives in the preseason, but the Bucks keep turning it over at far too high a rate. Giannis had 6 all on his own, Jabari had 4 and Brogdon had 3 on an otherwise solid night. As a team, the Bucks committed 23 turnovers compared to only 25 assists. This ratio will need to go down if the Bucks are planning on making any noise in the league this regular season.
Jabari Parker – Right after the Bucks exercised their 4th-year option on the former 2nd overall pick, Jabari validated their choice by racking up a double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds. Along with that, he only committed 1 foul, though he did turn it over 4 times, which you just hate to see. Still, this game bodes well for what we can expect to see from Jabari in the regular season.
Plus/Minus Hero:
Greg Monroe – Once again, Greg Monroe was the Bucks’ plus/minus hero, and it wasn’t even that close. He put up a +18, compared to +10 for Jabari Parker, his closest competition. The big man only scored 2 points on 8 shots, but he did have 8 rebounds again, and he split them between 4 offensive and 4 rebounds again. Monroe only played 22 minutes, yet had such a high plus/minus that we can probably expect him to get even more minutes once the season starts next week. If not, he’s obviously figured out a way to be effective playing the type of minutes he has been.
So the Bucks finish their preseason 3-3, and they look forward to taking on the Hornets next Wednesday to kick off regular season action that actually counts. Once again, let me reiterate that the preseason does not really matter, but it’s nice to have seen some of the positives that we did see in this handful of games. It will be great when the season comes back in a week, and the Bucks will look to turn some heads on the court.