Milwaukee Bucks: Takeaways From Loss To Washington Wizards
Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
With the Milwaukee Bucks losing to the Washington Wizards last night 107-102, we break down what went right and what went wrong in the loss.
The Milwaukee Bucks split their home-and-home series with the Washington Wizards as they lost 107-102 in Washington D.C. Monday night.
Entering the game shorthanded, the Bucks faced a challenge trying to erase their woes on their road, especially in a place where they’ve recently struggled (the Bucks have now lost their last six of their last seven games in Washington D.C.).
With the Wizards looking to exact revenge on the Bucks after the drubbing last Friday night, we had quite the contested game and the 15 lead changes were indicative of that.
Both teams would trade run after run all throughout the game, setting up what would be the decisive fourth quarter.
After the Bucks got off to a 12-2 run to start the fourth quarter, the Wizards chipped away at the Bucks’ 10-point lead, bringing it down to four until Bucks head coach Jason Kidd brought in the bulk of the team’s starters.
As has been the case in almost all of the team’s tight games, the young Bucks struggled to get their offense off the ground late and the Wizards turned up the pressure defensively.
Gaining the lead with 3:10 left in the game, the Wizards did just enough to add to their total, with the Bucks failing to capitalize on their multiple chances to at least even up the game.
So with that, let’s take a deeper look at who and what stood out for the Bucks in the loss.
Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
Giannis Antetokounmpo #NBAVote
With All-Star voting opening up over the weekend, Giannis Antetokounmpo added to an already impressive resume for his All-Star chances last night.
It was hard to match his performance in the first game of the back-to-back with the Wizards, but the 22-year-old star was incredibly steady and had his fingerprints on most of the team’s overall performance.
Of course, a great Giannis performance always comes with some great highlights and last night proved that to be the case once again. Arguably the best of those came on excellent second effort plays, like this hard fought rebound that Giannis would deliver to Greg Monroe for the score.
That would only be topped later with this beautiful no-look pass to John Henson in the middle of the third quarter.
But like the team’s performance in general late, Antetokounmpo went quiet in a hurry, in large part due to the Wizards bodying him up whenever they had the chance. As a result, frustration began to build for Giannis and as he began to reel, so did the Bucks.
At this point, a standard 22 points, 12 boards and seven assists is nothing new for the all encompassing talent that Giannis has become. Knowing him, however, losing the way the Bucks did overshadows whatever spotlight his individual performance gets.
Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
Snell Bells Ring
Turning our attention to the biggest surprise of the night, it’s time to take a look at the performance of one Tony Snell (I’m sorry to say that his middle name is undetermined on the interwebs at this point).
With Mirza Teletovic being in concussion protocol, it was clear the Bucks would need someone to step up in terms of three-point shooting. That was a task Snell would ultimately take upon himself as he unloaded for a career-high six three-point makes.
Snell wouldn’t take long to get going, hitting his first three in the opening minute of the game. Setting the tone early, Snell continued to make it rain from deep in the first half, finishing with five makes in six attempts.
However, we didn’t end up seeing a repeat performance from Snell in the second half, adding only one more make in five attempts from deep. Without his outside shooting, Snell’s effectiveness would take a big tumble when it was all said and done (Snell finished with -18 in his 29 minutes).
In the end, Snell’s six three-pointers would comprise of the team’s total for the night from downtown and his 20 points now stands as his highest point total in a Bucks uniform.
Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
The Moose Produced
On a day where yet another report of trade rumors circulated around him, Greg Monroe did what he does best last night.
In his 22 minutes off the bench, Monroe provided steady scoring all night long for the Bucks. He often powered through the likes of Marcin Gortat and Jason Smith down low for the bulk of his buckets and even added a nice 18-foot jumper near the elbow midway through the third quarter.
Even as the offense would show signs of coming to a halt in the fourth quarter, Monroe was a rare sign of life on that end and helped keep the game in favor for the Bucks. Along with his 16 points, Monroe would add five rebounds, an assist and a steal, although he did finish the game with a -10.
It was just another solid effort in what’s been a solid season overall for the once-maligned Monroe.
No matter the almost regular dose of trade chatter we hear or see regarding Monroe now, it’s nice to see the 25-year-old show that he rightfully serves a purpose for the Bucks, especially when they need it most.
Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
The Under Delly
With another curious performance under his belt last night, our last Buck we’ll focus on is Matthew Dellavedova.
On one hand, the Australian was instrumental to the team’s offense with his playmaking, regularly hitting fellow Bucks on the break to capitalize on the Wizards’ mistakes. Delly’s playmaking would also extend into the half court as well with him benefiting from Snell’s hot shooting in particular.
In total, Delly finishing with 11 assists and just one turnover falls in line with what’s been the biggest strength of his play for the season. The downside of Delly’s performance, however, also happens to fall in line with his biggest struggle of the year so far: his three-point shooting.
Going 1-of-9 from the field and 0-for-5 from deep, Delly’s ineffectiveness shooting the ball has been an underlying problem that’s slowly becoming hard to ignore. Thankfully, Delly’s trips to the free-throw line helped him have something to fall back on scoring wise for the night as he finished with eight points, six of those points coming from the line.
But with another night sinking his shooting percentages even further, it might not be long until we wonder whether the role Delly currently has now may be getting in the way of where we thought he’d have the biggest impact on the Bucks.
We’ll have to wait until Wednesday night to see how the Bucks respond when they take on divisional rival, the Detroit Pistons.
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