The Bucks took on the Hornets in Charlotte tonight as they looked for their fifth win of the season (and second against the Hornets).
The Bucks starters were:
Tony Snell
Malcolm Brogdon
Khris Middleton
Giannis Antetokounmpo
John Henson
The Hornets starters were:
Jeremy Lamb
Kemba Walker
Dwight Howard
Michael Kidd-Gilchrist
Marvin Williams
Malcolm Brogdon kicked things off for the Bucks with a corner 3, and Milwaukee scored the first six points of the game to start on a 10-3 (and eventually 19-9) run. The Bucks led 19-12 midway through the first, but a subsequent 5-0 Charlotte run quickly erased most of Milwaukee’s early work. The Bucks played a very solid first quarter on the road, though, and were rewarded with a 32-25 lead after one, led by 9 points from Khris Middleton and 7 apiece from Giannis and Malcolm Brogdon. Dwight Howard and Kemba Walker each paced the Hornets with 8 points in the first 12 minutes.
Malik Monk started the second for the Hornets with a 3, but the Bucks kept making their baskets (especially from distance, as they started 5/10 from beyond the arc) and maintained a 45-41 lead at the midway point. The Hornets kept pushing, though, and a Frank Kaminsky putback off a Dwight Howard miss soon evened the score up at 45. Both teams traded baskets for a bit from there until a Jeremy Lamb 3 gave the Hornets their first lead of the game at 51-50. It stayed tight after that, but it was the Hornets who took the quarter as they entered halftime with a 60-57 lead (since a Khris Middleton 3 came just after the buzzer). Kemba Walker led all scorers with 20 points, and Brogdon and Middleton trailed behind him with 16 and 13, respectively. The Bucks outrebounded the Hornets 23-19, and were only down 51% to 52% from the field (and 50% to 55% from three), so it was Milwaukee’s 8 turnovers to Charlotte’s 3 that did them in during the first half.
Tony Snell started the second half for the Bucks with a 3 to tie the game up, and he followed it with another one right after that to give the Bucks the edge. The lead changed a few times after that as both teams played well, but the Hornets led 75-74 midway through the third. The Bucks regained the advantage fewer than 3 minutes later with two free throws from Giannis, but Charlotte kept pressing and it took a Khris Middleton turnaround fadeway buzzer beater to tie the game up at 88-88 going into the fourth. Walker led all scorers after three with 24 points, but Middleton was right on his tail with 23 points on 9-15 shooting from the field.
Malik Monk started the final quarter for the Hornets with a long 2, and Charlotte started the quarter with a quick 7 points to gain some early separation. The Hornets eventually parlayed that into a 108-97 lead midway through the final quarter, but then Khris Middleton took it upon himself to bring the Bucks back into the game (more on that below). He was ultimately able to bring it to 121-124 with 5 seconds left, but there just wasn’t enough time as the Hornets ultimately pulled away with a 126-121 win. The Hornets barely outrebounded the Bucks 41-40 and barely outshot them 54%-50% from the field, so it was Milwaukee’s 14 turnovers and 25 fouls that gave Charlotte (11 turnovers and 18 fouls) the edge.
Three Big Things:
Khris Middleton – While Giannis was in foul trouble again for much of the game (though not as early as he was against the Thunder), Middleton feasted all night as he ended up with a career-high 43 points on 15-28 shooting and 5-11 from distance, as well as 5 rebounds and 7 assists. While this was easily Giannis’s worst game of the season, it was easily Middleton’s best game of the season, and he seemed to be hitting 3s at will late in the fourth. In case you didn’t believe me that Middleton was firmly the second-best player on this team, I hope tonight showed you the light. Anyways, Middleton and Giannis don’t both need 30+ a game, so if they can each put in about 25 a game (give or take a few) moving forward they’ll be putting the Bucks in a good position to win all season.
Malik Monk – While Kemba Walker had 20 points at halftime on 6-7 from the field and 3-3 from distance, he only ended up with 26 points on 8-11 shooting (which, don’t get me wrong, is a great night). So, instead, I want to talk about Malik Monk, who scored the first four points of the half for Charlotte and seemed to hit every a bucket every time the Bucks looked like they might edge back into the game. He finished with 25 points on 10-17 from the field and 5-8 from distance, as well as 2 rebounds, 2 assists, and a steal. Walker is one of the premier players in the league, so Monk was really the surprise of the night, and the Bucks did not have an answer for him.
Three-Point Shooting – This was a weird game, as the Bucks shot extremely well all game but seemed just a step behind the Hornets most of the second half. In fact, the Bucks shot a very nice 54% from 3-point range, but the Hornets shot an ever better 56% from distance. Honestly, the Bucks played this one pretty well, especially considering it was a road game, but the Hornets just played it a tiny bit better and came away with a small-margin win. There’s not much to be mad about if you’re the Bucks, since most nights their numbers in this game would have been more than enough for a win.
Plus/Minus Hero:
Giannis Antetokounmpo – Giannis led the Bucks with a +16 mark, John Henson was just behind him with +14, and the next closest Milwaukee player was DeAndre Liggins at +4. Giannis had by far his worst game of the season with just 14 points on 5-16 shooting, but he also tallied 13 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks. If he hadn’t been in foul trouble, he easily could have led the Bucks to their fifth win of the season. Instead, the Bucks fall to .500 at 4-4, and Giannis is left needing to figure out how to stop taking himself out of games without hurting his defense.
The Bucks just have to chalk this one up to an extremely well-played game from the Hornets, and regroup for their next game on Friday in Detroit.