Bucks basketball is back! Your Milwaukee Bucks took the home court tonight against the Charlotte Hornets in their first meaningful action in months, and not a moment too soon. Before the action started, the national anthem was sung by C. Porterfield with a huge “BLACK LIVES MATTER” displayed on his guitar. Gotta love it.
Anyways, the starting lineup for the Bucks was:
Matthew Dellavedova
Giannis Antetokounmpo
Jabari Parker
Miles Plumlee
Mirza Teletovic
For the Hornets, the starters were:
Kemba Walker
Nicolas Batum
Michael Kidd-Gilchrist
Marvin Williams
Roy Hibbert
The Bucks started off their season with a turnover on their first offensive possession, and the Hornets jumped out to an early lead which they would not relinquish. It was 32-24 after the first quarter, and the Bucks were lucky they weren’t down by more. Giannis led Milwaukee with 10 first quarter points, which was one of the few positives for the Bucks early on.
The Hornets built their lead (as expected) by raining three pointers, which made it hard for the Bucks to cut into the gap. Every time it seemed like the Bucks were chipping away at Charlotte’s advantage, the Hornets would drain another 3-pointer. In fact, the Hornets shot 5/13 (39%) from distance in the first half compared to an abysmal 1/9 (11%) for the Bucks. Charlotte outshot Milwaukee 48% to 37% overall in the first on their way to a 56-41 halftime lead.
The Jabbawockeez (remember them?) put on a cool show at halftime, so if you have league pass that might have made you feel a little better.
The Hornets started the second half with a 3-pointer (what else?) but the teams traded baskets throughout the third quarter as Charlotte’s lead basically stayed constant (83-66 by the end of the quarter, thanks to a last-second 3-pointer by Jabari Parker). Although the Bucks couldn’t close the gap any, they certainly did not give up and even got some exciting plays in, which was encouraging. Giannis Antetokounmpo continued dominating in the paint and otherwise as he had 22 points through three quarters on 9/16 from the field.
The fourth quarter got a little exciting as the Bucks kept fighting to bring the lead within single digits for the first time since the first half, and they basically outplayed the Hornets in every way in the fourth. Malcolm Brogdon had a thunderous dunk to add to the excitement, and the rim needed a little adjustment to get back into game shape. Unfortunately, the rally stagnated and the Bucks couldn’t quite claw out the win, but at least they didn’t get blown out as Charlotte only ended up winning 107-96.
Three Big Things
3-Point Shooting – The Hornets picked up where they left off from last season, draining several three pointers to build and maintain a lead that the Bucks could not overcome. In the second half they were only 2/10 (after going 5/13 in the first), but that was still much better than Milwaukee’s 3/16 from beyond the arc for the game. Frankly, the Bucks shot too many 3-pointers considering this is not a strength for the team. Sure, they were down and trying to chip away at the deficit, but settling for contested threes beyond the arc was not getting the job done.
Turnovers – Reversing an ugly trend from the preseason, the Bucks did an excellent job limiting their turnovers, forcing more (10) than they committed (8). They had 23 assists, too, so it’s not like they weren’t moving the ball around. This lack of turnovers was perhaps the most encouraging aspect of tonight’s game, and the Bucks should be able to put together some wins if they keep taking care of the ball like this.
Giannis Antetokounmpo – Giannis started off the season by validating everyone’s faith in him (many seem to think he’ll be Milwaukee’s first all-star in a while, which I completely agree with) by scoring 31! points on 13/21 shooting, along with racking up 9 rebounds, 5 assists, a block and a steal. Even better? He had 1 turnover all game, and 0 until the very end. Considering he had 6 in one preseason game, this is a welcome change. If Giannis keeps playing like this and his teammates start contributing more, good things should start happening for the Bucks.
Plus/Minus Hero
Jason Terry – For a bit it looked like Greg Monroe was going to be the plus/minus hero once again, but Jason Terry ultimately finished with +5 in 18 minutes compared to Monroe’s +2. Along with Michael Beasley’s +2, these were the only Bucks in the positive at all. Although Terry racked up 3 fouls, he also had 5 points on 2/4 shooting in a quietly efficient performance. So far, he looks like a good addition to the team.
Well, that wasn’t quite the start the Bucks were hoping for, but it looked like it was gonna be much worse at certain points in the 3rd quarter. They did well to keep fighting, and there were a lot of positive things to take away from this game. The Bucks have some time to figure out what worked and what didn’t as their next game is against the Brooklyn Nets Saturday night at 7:00 PM CT. Tune in then to see if the Bucks can get their first win of the season!