Game in Review: Milwaukee Bucks @ Portland Trail Blazers – February 2

The road trip gets no easier for the Milwaukee Bucks as Damian Lillard and the Portland Trail Blazers hit a few threes and win big.

Starting Lineups – Milwaukee Bucks: Michael Carter-Williams, Khris Middleton, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jabari Parker, Greg Monroe

Portland Trail Blazers: Damian Lillard, C.J. McCollum, Al-Farouq Aminu, Noah Vonleh, Mason Plumlee

Things just aren’t going to go Milwaukee’s way, are they? Fresh off of a tough loss at the hands of the Sacramento Kings, the Milwaukee Bucks headed a bit northward to stop in and say hi to the Portland Trail Blazers while playing a friendly game of NBA basketball.

Portland has been on a tear as of late as they look to better solidify their current standing as the eighth seed out West, and they came into this evening nurturing a four-game winning streak. Damian Lillard has been on a tear since his snubbing as an All-Star, and the Bucks had the pleasure of facing his wrath this evening as well.

Unlike previous nights in which the opposing team takes advantage of poor perimeter D on the part of the Bucks to kill them with threes late, Portland had no issue on the backs of CJ McCollum and Al-Farouq getting a sizable lead in the first. Both teams had sustained difficulties in keeping control of the ball as they would combine for five turnovers in the first, mostly earned during a quick three-minute span of chaos.

Lillard began to take over late, driving and scoring with ease at the basket on three consecutive possessions, and a Miles Plumlee alley-oop was all that kept the game within single digits after one, though the Blazers looked prime to continue to push things up 27-19.

As it looked like once more Milwaukee was determined to get in a shooting contest with Portland, it is critical to note that Khris Middleton continued his recent stretch of average-to-below-average play. His 3-12 mark through the first half went a long way in derailing offensive rhythm.

The home team took advantage of a cold Bucks team, and their left-to-right style of play was naturally the key to break Milwaukee right open. Given how many of the Blazers are solid shooters (44.6% FG% good for 14th in the league), normal defensive pressure forced ordinarily poor system defender Jabari Parker into a lot of trouble. He’d pick up his third foul not even halfway through the second quarter; that’s a problem, obviously.

Continued issues keeping Portland out of the paint proved to be a deciding factor in the first half, though a final possession Giannis corner three injected a bit of life into a drab Bucks team who were surprisingly down only seven, 49-56.

Some strong play on the move thanks to the efforts of Giannis and Jabari in erasing or making up for mistakes sparked a mini-run to get things down to a four point game. Then another Aminu three stopped momentum cold. This ‘Bari coast-to-coast was part of that quick run (courtesy of Jon Hartzell):

Things actually got surprisingly competitive as Milwaukee was relentless in attacking the rim. Middleton began to snap out of his shooting funk, ball movement into the post created shots at the rim, and Monroe in particular began to fill things up with Meyers Leonard matched up on him.

Unfortunately, a poor run of play ending with a MCW before-the-buzzer foul on Lillard gave Portland a little more breathing room, up still 79-73 going to the fourth.

With the subs in to start the final quarter, difficulty scoring with regularity meant that the starters would be set with a pretty deep hole to climb out of in knocking on the door for a comeback victory. Some easy buckets on the move for Portland would ensure it’d be one helluva time for Milwaukee.

A 10-point deficit with 6:18 left would be all the Bucks would get to work with, and a stuttering offense did little to inspire confidence. Naturally, it was tough to continually trade twos for threes, and useless thrashing in the paint wasted plenty of time and plenty of effort for the Bucks.

Middleton did his best to fight drag the team back into things, but not even his 21 points (!!!), eight rebounds and three assists were enough to re-open the firmly shut door in the Moda Center.

As it was, the Bucks fall once more tonight, 95-107.

Next: It's Too Early To Rule Out Anything For Jabari Parker

The road trip closes out for Milwaukee on the Great Salt Lake in Utah as Milwaukee visits the Utah Jazz this Friday.