It took all four quarters of play, but the Milwaukee Bucks eventually found their groove on the road against the Indiana Pacers for a 120-112 victory in Giannis Antetokounmpo’s return from illness. Giannis would lead all scorers with 30 points (26 in the second half) and added 12 rebounds and five assists for good measure. Brook Lopez, Khris Middleton, Bobby Portis, and Gary Trent Jr. would contribute 16, 15, 14, and 14 points, respectively in what wound up being a relatively complete team performance. Even Damian Lillard’s nine points arrived at a crucial time to help break Milwaukee’s three-point deadlock. The Bucks would be good for a 19 point comeback and they now lead the season series between these teams at 2-0.

Read our full summary of the game here and catch a six-minute audio recap on the Bucks+ podcast Bucks In Six Minutes below.

What Did We Learn?

There is plausibly just enough depth of scoring and defensive versatility on this roster to grind out victories even when Milwaukee’s big three are off their games for stretches at a go. Giannis, Dame, and Khris combined for a whopping 14 points and seven turnovers in the first half, yet the Bucks held a slight lead after one frame thanks in part to timely interior scoring from the likes of Lopez and a quick trigger jumper from GTJ. Once Giannis found his rhythm in the second half the team was able to ride his dominance (26 points on 10-16 from the floor, 6-11 from the line, and eight rebounds) and continuing contributions from the rotation to a massive turnaround.

The most interesting defensive fold was the amount of zone run by head coach Doc Rivers in the second half. Rather than continue trying to stick with Indiana’s quicker players in the team’s base zone-drop scheme—which struggled mightily in the second quarter and start of the third—the Bucks went into a zone with Bobby and Giannis anchoring the interior. Indiana struggled to find the room to generate open looks and their quick offense began to sputter, often settling for tough contested midrange attempts with two Bucks draped all over the driver. Good opposing offenses can normally unlock a zone in somewhat short order, but Milwaukee’s personnel did well to avoid any serious breakdowns.

Three Giannis Midrange Jumpers

If you are the type to go back and watch the game in its entirety again, it’d be hard to miss just how much Giannis was laboring in the first half. There were a few moments when he got a chance to stand still (with or without the ball) and was heaving for breath—obviously the lingering aftereffects of whatever respiratory bug he and Lillard had battled this past week. The result? A lot of blown shots close to the basket, turnovers, and substandard effort.

Should that trend have held in the second half it’d have been equal parts understandable and a leading reason why a loss felt in the offing. Instead, Giannis ginned up just enough execution to claw his way back into things before firing on all cylinders to close the game. A notable component that got him on track was his jumper. It is a tool that has come and gone over the past few seasons on an almost game-to-game basis, but last night it was effective enough to lift his scoring and pay off isolation looks. Here are three of those makes, two of which came with a hefty deficit to keep Milwaukee moving and the last being a very tough baseline fader which drew the Bucks within two:

Ah hell, let’s just break convention and look at his other two jumpers with the game on the line because they’re that fun to watch:

There is a reason why we salivate over the possibility of Giannis ever happening upon a jumpshot that has any level of replicability: it’d instantly transform the depth of his offensive game from dominance to possible transcendence. About 22% of his two point looks have been pull-ups this season which is his highest mark since 2021-2022 and he’s making them at a 43.6% rate. Definitely something to keep an eye on heading forward.

Bonus Bucks Bits

• How about Gary Trent Jr.? His scoring punch at the end of the first quarter (a personal 8-0 run helped push Milwaukee to a small lead) and a pair of threes in the fourth were beautifully timed when the team needed it most. The past week has seen him cement a spot in Doc’s closing lineup and gets the mind wondering whether another stint as a starter could be in the offing.
• Brook Lopez went 7-8 from inside the arc, a leading reason why the Bucks maintained touching distance with Indiana with a quiet first half from the stars.
• Damian Lillard had a quiet night in part because the Pacers were relentless in trying to pick him up over 3/4ths of the court and constant trapping. Andrew Nembhard did a very solid job robbing Lillard of any space on-ball and Dame’s teammates weren’t super quick to react and move to give Dame a bailout passing lane or screen to free him up. A 3-14 mark from the floor isn’t ideal, but he did hit those three second-half threes. That’ll do.
• Shoutout to Ryan Rollins for his 90 second cameo to start the fourth quarter. It is obvious that he’s going to drop like a rock out of the rotation if everyone is healthy, but there are worse jobs in the world than “guy who gives Lillard a small breather” in the NBA.
• The in-arena mics are getting better at picking up Bobby Portis dropping “ball don’t lie” on opponents after missed free throws. We’ve heard him hit that line with an expletive thrown in for good measure two games in a row. If he’s right, he’s right.
• Andre Jackson Jr. registered a mere 12 minutes of play. Now that the rotation is coming back into place I’ve a feeling he’ll be given far less margin for error by the coaching staff heading forward. Either he responds and finds a new level or risks seeing his spot in the rotation at risk.

Up Next

It is back to home sweet home for the Bucks when they play host to the Brooklyn Nets on Thursday, January 2nd. With Brooklyn wandering ever more into full-on fire sale mode, can Milwaukee find the gumption to even the season series up at 2-2? You can find out at 7:00 PM (CST) on FanDuel Sports Network Wisconsin, and our Playback channel!

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