Milwaukee Bucks: Grades from 108-97 win over Chicago Bulls
After a rough stretch of three consecutive losses, the Milwaukee Bucks fought hard in their first nationally televised game, defeating the rival Chicago Bulls.
Dec 15, 2016; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Milwaukee Bucks players remembers sports broadcaster Craig Sager before game against the Chicago Bulls at BMO Harris Bradley Center. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T | |
| Bucks | 30 | 34 | 24 | 20 | 108 |
| Bulls | 18 | 27 | 21 | 31 | 97 |
Tweet of the Game (R.I.P. Craig Sager):
#SagerStrong pic.twitter.com/nXF6NN5zjm
— Milwaukee Bucks (@Bucks) December 16, 2016
Despite the Bucks victory, it is important to note the passing of Craig Sager, an incredibly influential part of the NBA over the past several years. In the national TV game on TNT, the Bucks honored Sager by wearing the #SagerStrong shirts during warm-ups, as well as having the shirts on hand for their cheerleaders and several fans. Before moving onto our grades, I want to use this time to say: R.I.P. Craig Sager, you will be missed.
Just days removed from a three-game losing streak, the Milwaukee Bucks looked to be right back on track in this game. They were able to use their home field advantage and some hot shooting from Jabari Parker to shoot out to an early first quarter and they never looked back after that.
Giannis Antetokounmpo kicked the game off with a 30-footer to take a 3-0 lead over the Bulls and then the Bucks held that lead for the entirety of the game. As a team, the Bucks had one of their best shooting nights, especially from behind the arc, where they were 11/20.
It was a definitely a good sign moving forward that the cornerstones of Jabari and Giannis, who are known to be working on their shooting from deep, were a combined five-for-nine from out there.
Along with great performances from Jabari (28 points, five rebounds) and the Greek Freak (30 points, 14 rebounds), they were helped out by a near double-double of nine points and nine assists from Matthew Dellavedova and another quality performance from Mirza Teletovic.
As for the Bulls, they were led by Jimmy Butler and Dwyane Wade, both of whom scored over 20 points. Those two are always dangerous, but it was Taj Gibson, noted Bucks-killer, who arguably had the greatest impact on the game for Chicago, finishing with 19 points on efficient shooting in just 24 minutes.
On the whole, it was a great performance for the Bucks, and hopefully one that they can follow up with another victory against this same squad in the next game. But first, let’s look at how we graded every member of the game.
Dec 15, 2016; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (34) gets some hang time over Chicago Bulls guard Rajon Rondo (9) after dunking a basket in the third quarter at BMO Harris Bradley Center. Antetokounmpo scored 30 points to help the Bucks beat the Bulls 108-97. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports
Starters
Matthew Dellavedova
PG, Milwaukee Bucks
With another near double-double for Outback Jesus, this is now his eighth time tossing out at least eight assists in a game. On top of his passing, Delly limited his turnovers to just two. Dellavedova has never been the flashiest player, and this was just another very nice, albeit pedestrian performance for him.
Tony Snell
SG, Milwaukee Bucks
It is hard to say that Snell wasn’t good in this game, because he was. Snell is never going to bring an outstanding game or very many dull ones either, he is just very consistent. The Bucks can count on him to knock down a fair number of shots on a reasonably efficient clip, as well as committing very few turnovers and playing solid defense. And that is all he needs to do. He is not a high usage player, despite playing high volume minutes, and that only helps the rest of the team.
Giannis Antetokounmpo
SF, Milwaukee Bucks
What else can be said about this kid? He took the Bucks first national TV opportunity and blew the expectations for him out of the water. From the first possession of the game, in which he bombed a 30-foot three, he was locked in and ready to show every doubter that he is a superstar that is here and ready to represent Milwaukee as an athlete and a person. Sure, he didn’t have a triple-double, but he is still worthy of the A+ grade in this one.
Jabari Parker
PF, Milwaukee Bucks
Just like Giannis, Jabari Parker was outstanding in this game. The Bucks are not privileged to play many national TV games, and the “cornerstones” were everything in this one. For any casual fan wondering if the Bucks are a team to worry about in the next couple years, they witnessed the cornerstones drop 58 combined points at an average age of 21.5.
Watch out NBA, because this highflying duo is here to stay. Oh, and don’t forget about Khris Middleton, because yeah, he’s here too.
John Henson
C, Milwaukee Bucks
Henson is not going to be a great scorer in every game, as is evident by his 2/7 shooting night against the Bulls, but that is far from detrimental to the team. As the starter, Henson provides a nice rim protecting presence, as he chipped in another two blocks in this battle, and also showed his weight around the rim with a double-digit rebounding performance that included six (!!!) on the offensive glass.
Dec 15, 2016; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Chicago Bulls center Robin Lopez (8) and Milwaukee Bucks center Greg Monroe (15) battle for a rebound in the first quarter at BMO Harris Bradley Center. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports
Bench
Mirza Teletovic
PF, Milwaukee Bucks
Mirza is not going to stuff a stat sheet by any means, but he is going to chuck up some three-pointers. And make a fair number of them in doing so. In this victory, Mirza was 3/5 from behind the arc, but he also added a couple buckets inside the three-point line, including a nice looking 15-foot fadeaway in the first half.
Greg Monroe
C, Milwaukee Bucks
Moose really can do it all. It wasn’t a flashy game with any major numbers for Monroe, but he added at least one tick mark in every statistical category except turnovers in this game. And that, I might add, is not a bad thing. At the beginning of the season, these type of games were often preceded by a “if Moose could do this…,” but now they are just the norm for the excellent bench player.
Malcolm Brogdon
PG, Milwaukee Bucks
Despite three rather unfortunate turnovers, Brogdon turned in another nice performance in this game, where he was able to notch his season (and career, as he is a rookie) high in assists. It is hard to be any more impressed by the young lad, and even somewhat off nights like this one yield at least one positive.
Jason Terry
SG, Milwaukee Bucks
Jason Terry was Jason Terry in this game. He is not going to do a lot of things on the floor, but he plays a fair amount of minutes and does nothing to hurt the team. He made his one three-point attempt in this game, but that was about all he brought to the table.
Dec 15, 2016; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Milwaukee Bucks head coach Jason Kidd calls a play in the second quarter during the game against the Chicago Bulls at BMO Harris Bradley Center. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports
Jason Kidd
Head Coach, Milwaukee Bucks
A-Hard to argue with the coaching in a game like this. Defeating a rival in very convincing fashion on the first nationally broadcasted game of the season for the team, that’s a pretty good game. Although the lead was trimmed down near single digits in the fourth quarter, it might have been nice to see a little more play out of the bench, especially the younger players like Thon Maker and Rashad Vaughn. Other than that, though, it was a solid gameplan that the players were all behind in a big bounce back win. Now go do it again, Jason. Let’s take both from the Bulls.Next: Opposition
Dec 15, 2016; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (34) and forward John Henson (31) tries to block a shot by Chicago Bulls forward Jimmy Butler (21) in the fourth quarter at BMO Harris Bradley Center. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports
Chicago Bulls
Central, 13-12
It could be an entirely different story in the next game though, so the Bucks should not take them lightly the second time around.
With no nights of rest, the Milwaukee Bucks next game comes on the road in Chicago against the Bulls for the second time in two days.
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