NBA – With three players at 20 or more points, Milwaukee largely won on the floor of the Blazers (108-127), escaping the score in the third quarter.
If everything is going well for the Bucks, still 2nd in the East, the same cannot be said for the Blazers. After signing five wins in six games, the men of Chauncey Billups lost a second time in a row and remained below the 50% win mark. His team is in 11th place in the heart of a very dense conference between 4th and 13th position.
WHAT YOU MUST REMEMBER
– The Bucks roll out without Giannis. When, four minutes after the break, the Greek suffered his 4th personal foul and was replaced by Khris Middleton, the visitors already had a 13-point lead (60-73). When he came back into play five minutes later? Milwaukee had… 21 points (67-88)! This is to say if the Blazers were not able to take advantage of these imposed passages on the bench, including at the start of the fourth quarter when the double MVP took his 5th fault. In just 23 minutes, he still achieved quite a job. But his teammates, starting with the Holiday-Lopez pair, got the job done when he wasn’t on the pitch.
– The lack of “spacing” of the Blazers. As the break approached, Damian Lillard sent a missile, as he sometimes does now, almost from the halfway line. This impressive shot was one of the few feats of the point guard and his team behind the arc. Jerami Grant, Anfernee Simons or Shaedon Sharpe all had a complicated night at this distance. It should also be noted that Trendon Watford was simply invited to shoot by Brook Lopez for several minutes. The small interior, who converted a 3-point shot at the start of the game (a 6/6 for him in aggregate over his last four games), preferred to attack the circle. Without success.
– Absolute rebound imbalance
. The absence of Jusuf Nurkic has not gone unnoticed in this sector. If Josh Hart was true to his reputation, he was not supported much by his teammates. Portland has thus collected only 28 rebounds, almost… half as much as the opposing team. Obviously, the Bucks, who shot 54%, had more defensive rebounds to collect against a team as clumsy as the Blazers (41% including 25% from afar).
TOPS/FLOPS
✅ Brook Lopez. He finished without counter but his presence was still essential to protect the Bucks circle from the attacks of Damian Lillard and the others. In addition to his defensive activity, he signed one of the best games of his season in attack with a great success on shots (9/12).
✅ Jevon Carter. Like Khris Middleton, still 6th man, the replacement point guard brought a good dose of energy to the Bucks when he entered the field. His award-winning third basket scored late in the third quarter helped widen the gap in favor of his team.
⛔ The Blazers bench. The starting five has already had a lot of trouble existing against the holders opposite, the substitutes have not been much more inspired. Trendon Watford and Shaedon Sharpe suffered in terms of finishing and Gary Payton II did not show up. All three finished with a -15 or -17 score.
THE FOLLOWING
Blazers (26-28) : reception of the Warriors on Wednesday.
Bucks (37-17) : trip to the Lakers on Thursday.
