Bucks vs. Clippers: No Naps, No Problem

After the Milwaukee Bucks slipped on banana peels in the first two games of their four-game California road trip, they turned things around and toppled the Los Angeles Clippers in a matinee special, 124-117.

Game Summary

As the Clippers play-by-play guy really wanted you to know, both teams came out with far more energy than you’d expect from a matinee tilt. While the Bucks defense continued its road trip struggles containing single players when they get cooking — in this case, Malik Beasley & Co. had a tough time preventing James Harden from generating space and feeding teammates — Damian Lillard’s three-point offense (4-4 in the frame) did enough heavy lifting to avoid an early hole to climb out of. When Harden sat, the Bucks transition defense lost the plot, saved by LA’s inability to hit any of the bevy of open threes given to them. Clippers up 33-29 after one.

Milwaukee would respond to their deficit by running the vaunted PatB-PatC-Bobby-Gallo-Giannis lineup that ironically struggled to wrangle rebounds in spite of the presence of three nominal bigs on the floor. Giannis did a fine job operating in space in attacking Ivica Zubac to anchor the lineup, paying off with a Pat Bev three to regain the lead at 40-39. Danilo Gallinari would nail his first three as a Buck shortly thereafter, and Milwaukee looked ready to rip the floodgates open on a slick Giannis pass to Beasley in the corner for another three, called off by Scott Foster for an imaginary traveling violation by Antetokounmpo. After that mishap, the Bucks kept their foot on the shotmaking gas benefitting from Dame-Bobby P&R looks — a late implosion off a Rivers technical and a Clips basket in transition left them the lead at the half, 62-59.

A quick foul on Ivica Zubac out of the half would get him time on the bench and made Milwaukee’s life in the paint easier on both ends. Malik Beasley had a strong pair of transition baskets to force a Clippers timeout and the insertion of one Miles Plumlee. Instead of signaling the resurgence of the Bucks paint defense, things just continued to be depressingly mediocre — loose balls bounced to the Clips off blocks, nobody rotated to Plumlee divebombing the basket from the three-point line, all sorts of crap. Plumlee actually hit Giannis with the hesi ball fake before hitting Norm Powell to cash in a three at one point. Bizarre. Thankfully, LA made it a point to have worse transition defense than Milwaukee, and the Bucks took advantage with plenty of cherry-picked baskets on their way to a 91-85 lead after three.

With Giannis sitting to start the fourth quarter, the Clippers powered their way back into the game with, again, paint dominance and Norm Powell going nuts. Tied up at 93 all with 10 minutes to go, it was Malik Beasley who bailed Milwaukee out by hitting an ATO three to regain the lead. Things still looked shaky for the defense until Antetokounmpo was subbed in and queued up a seven point mini-run between himself and Damian Lillard. A ref show then blew in out of nowhere to add a little extra disruption to a see-saw affair with Antetokounmpo often the victim. He kept firing, though, hitting a much-needed midrange jumper and defending his ass off to help cover for the length of the floor. Damian Lillard also came on strong late, hitting a tough three and getting sent to the line to take (and make) three free-throws late to push the lead out to 116-109. Another great sequence between Milwaukee’s stars late would seal it, and the Bucks would win 124-117.

What We Learned

Paint defense, anyone? Ivica Zubac is a physical handful to deal with, but it wasn’t just him slicing the Bucks paint defense up. The formula for opponents to blitz the Bucks remain unchanged from earlier in the season: Rely on a primary ball handler to generate significant operating space off a dribble move to lose Malik Beasley/Damian Lillard, then cut things to pieces with the easy dump pass, pick-and-roll looks, or dunker spot putbacks. Even when Milwaukee’s bigs were in nominally good position, they either lacked the energy, resolve, or processing speed to close gaps and contest.

A 34-16 difference in points in the paint in the first half for the Clippers was eventually shaved down to 48-42 for a bit there, only for LA to push it back out to 58-42 in their favor. Outside of brief moments here or there, this was the main concern of the night.

Three Bucks

Giannis Antetokounmpo – 34 points, 10 assists, 7 rebounds

Just another masterful performance in a season full of them for Antetokounmpo. The defensive drop-off when he is off the floor could viably be the foundation upon which you build an MVP campaign around. When the Clippers took the lead late, Giannis was subbed in and turned things around instantly. Two good baskets, great interplay with Lillard on set offensive looks, and effort enough on the defensive end to cover for gaffes made by teammates whether on the perimeter or in the paint. A dynamo through and through.

Damian Lillard – 35 points, 11 assists, 7 rebounds

His three-point shooting early made sure the Bucks could at least stay within striking distance of the Clippers, and the shot-making responsibility fell back on his shoulders late to push things over the line. I actually thought he showed occasionally good effort on defense to boot disrupting ball-handlers on the perimeter before they could really get a head of steam.

Malik Beasley – 17 points, 4 rebounds

Malik is here because nobody else really qualifies to be the legendary Third Buck. It was a good turnaround performance from three for Beasley (4-9 from distance) and a generically bad one defensively anytime he was asked to even look at James Harden. The broken plays that let the Clippers take as many shots inside as they liked early were, largely, due to Malik’s substandard footwork/anticipation. Making threes cures a lot of ills, though.

Bonus Bucks Bits

• Danilo Gallinari logged his fifth bucket as a Buck and his first three in nine appearances. A sign of greater things to come? Almost assuredly not.
• Old friend PJ Tucker had the first quarter of his life, making baskets (including a three), getting blocks, and generally being a pest. He was then horrible almost the rest of his time on the floor. We thank him for his service.
• Really can’t emphasize how little I unexpected Miles Plumlee to ball out today. Absolute chaos ball with ball fakes and everything. Shoutout to that guy.
• Doc Rivers getting T’d up for something that wasn’t particularly clear to the viewers at home? Check.
• With about 20 seconds to go in the game and a 7 point lead, Pat Connaughton — who was completely unguarded and so didn’t need to rush — hoisted one of the worst three-point shots I’ve seen in a bit with five seconds still left on the shot clock. LA would corral the rebound and hit a three immediately to reduce Milwaukee’s lead to 4. While Giannis was busy shooting free throws to secure the win, Doc was giving Pat an earful. I’m pretty sure I lipread, “C’mon, man” as Doc’s parting shot. C’mon man, indeed.

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