Milwaukee Bucks Grades and Reactions to 109-100 Win Over the Brooklyn Nets

Reactions: The Bad

• What is it about teams so desperately, so obviously wanting to lose hanging around with the better Bucks? It happened Saturday night against the Pelicans who were without Eric Gordon and playing their third game in four nights. All signs should have pointed to a blowout, but every time the Bucks just couldn’t put the game away before the final minutes. Well it happened again in Brooklyn, with the Nets (the freaking NETS!) going so far as to hold a seven point lead in the fourth. At least the Bucks seem to have figured out how to win close games against bad teams.

• There was a sunspot on Giannis’ brilliant game: free throw shooting. There’s been some chatter about the NBA forcing him to reduce the time of his cadence when at the free throw line, which in turn seems to have made him uncomfortable and, well, sporadic from the stripe. He’ll figure it out, I hope. But the fact of the matter is he’s shooting 16-31 (51.6%) from the foul line the last three games.

• Remember Sean Kilpatrick? You should–he played for the Bucks in the summer league before spending the winter playing in the D-league at an MVP level. The kid from Yonkers (NY) went bonkers against the Bucks, scoring 19 points on 8-13 shooting and 3-6 from three. Like Luke Babbitt the night before, Kilpatrick was Sunday’s random guy to blow up on the Bucks.

• The Bucks bench is the culprit for these close games. Well, that and iffy defense. But it’s mostly on the bench. The Bucks bench was outscored by the Nets bench 38-16 and that includes a robust 12 from Miles Plumlee. Without Plumlee the Bucks bench was outscored 38-4! Hidden in the ascension of the big three is the fact that the Bucks are depleted by injuries and are rapidly running out of weapons.

Next: Milwaukee Bucks Grades: Starters