Milwaukee Bucks Grades and Reactions From 113-104 Loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers

Reactions: The Good

• I was guilty of thinking that LeBron James would put an end to all this point Giannis hype. He didn’t. In fact, given the way Giannis performed against his all-world point forward brethren I would say that LeBron James only perpetuated the hype. After shaking off some early game yips, Giannis settled into his usual style. He hit jumpers when the situation demanded it, he penetrated the lane with ease and eventually began calling his own number with his team in desperate need of points. Sure that LeBron highlight dunk came on Giannis’ assignment, but other than that lapse Giannis was good (not great) against the King.

• Regulators. It’s more than another light-hearted Marques Johnson nickname, but seemingly a way of life for John Henson and Miles Plumlee. They enforced the rim with their usual zeal, denying easy looks and combining for three blocks. More importantly their defensive presence spurred a second quarter run that brought the Bucks right back into the game. Here are two of their better moments (notice how they seemingly compete for the block).

• The bench scored 30 points! I repeat: the bench scored 30 points! It’s a shame that 30 bench points makes me want to shout from a mountaintop, but that’s where we are with this Bucks roster. So when they score a robust total like 30 (it feels like forever since they did it last) we should all be excited. They were led in scoring by John Henson, who did all of his damage (12 points) in the first half.

• The Bucks shot the ball very well, going 43-80 (53.8%) from the field. Their jumpers seemed to be falling at a steady rate with Bayles, Middleton, and even Jabari dropping in long range shots. For a team that’s known to struggle with shot-making it was good to see the Bucks hit so many jumpers.

Next: Reactions: The Bad