After another troubling week for the Bucks, they land 2nd in the Eastern Conference with a record of 25-14.
Game 1 Sunday, January 1st
Wizards 118 @ Bucks 95
Scoring Leaders:
Bucks-
Portis 19 PTS, 10 REB, 2 AST, 1 STL
Wizards-
Hachimura 26 PTS, 4 REB, 3 AST, 1 STL
The Wizards came out ready to play. They took an early lead and never let up on the Bucks. I will say that not having Giannis, Holiday or Middleton even was a huge factor in this loss. Although the entire game it seemed like the Bucks weren’t playing the same speed of basketball as the Wizards. Not only that, but the Bucks were completely cold from the field goal line. The Bucks had a measly 35%! No matter who is playing or not, the field goal percentage should not be that low. Bad shot selection after bad shot selection killed the Bucks.
Game 2 Tuesday, January 3rd
Wizards 113 @ Bucks 123
Scoring Leaders:
Bucks-
Antetokounmpo 55 PTS, 10 REB, 7 AST, 2 STL
Wizards-
Porzingis 22 PTS, 9 REB, 4 AST, 1 STL, 1 BLK
Congrats to Giannis on a career-high 55 points! He proves why he is the Greek Freak in almost every game. Now the game started as a close back and forth up until the end of the first quarter. Then in the second quarter, the Bucks started to take the lead, but the Wizards stayed close behind. The rest of the game, the Bucks averaged around a 10-point lead to close out the game and take home the victory. I will also say this was a way better game for shot selection, with the Bucks sitting right around 48% from the field goal line. I would like to see it above 60% however that was a huge improvement from the night before.
Game 3 Wednesday, January 4th
Bucks 104 @ Raptors 101
Scoring Leaders:
Bucks-
Antetokounmpo 30 PTS, 21 REB, 10 AST, 1 BLK
Raptors-
VanVleet 28 PTS, 8 REB, 12 AST, 3 STL
The Bucks came out striking first, taking an early lead. It wasn’t until the last 4 minutes of the 1st quarter that the Raptors decided that they were going to start playing. From then on it was a dogfight. With the Bucks trying to secure a solid lead, yet the Raptors stayed hot on their tails. Which led to an epic overtime finish. With Giannis driving to the basket, into a wall of defenders. As he was about to fall over, he sent an incredible pass to his man in the corner, Allen. Who in the final 11 seconds makes the game-sealing three-pointer! I held my breath as that pass went through the air!
Game 4 Friday, January 6th
Hornets 138 @ Bucks 109
Scoring Leaders:
Bucks-
Portis 19 PTS, 12 REB, 3 AST, 1 STL
Hornets-
Rozier 39 PTS, 2 REB, 4 AST, 1 STL
This was the Hornets’ game from the beginning. With them setting a franchise record of 51 points in the first quarter. After that, the Bucks just couldn’t climb out of the hole. One of the biggest killers for the Bucks was the number of turnovers. They were at 16 turnovers which are way too many. Another problem is they have not found a consistent shot from beyond the arch. I know they are missing Middleton badly, but they need to find some sort of replacement that can bring some consistency to the Bucks.
Next up the Bucks will face the Knicks, Hawks and then finish the week up with two games against the Heat.
Josh Wilson