Milwaukee Bucks: Player Grades From 109-97 Loss To Miami Heat

A-. Back in the starting lineup after returning from injury with a horrid stretch of bench contributions, Dellavedova looked about as good on Saturday as he has during his first few months as a Buck. Not only did the Aussie score and distribute in exceptionally efficient fashion, but he also seized control of the team like some of his teammates have failed to. Delly relished the prospect of directing traffic against the Heat, asserting his influence as a point guard by showing his teammates where to go and then feeding them the ball. This was the kind of dream contribution the Bucks were hoping for when they signed Delly: 15 points on 5-8 from the field, and seven assists to just a single turnover. Let’s hope we can see more of this.. G. Milwaukee Bucks. MATTHEW DELLAVEDOVA

C. A very steady and reliable shooting performance as Snell was perfect from the field, three-point range and the free throw lane en route to his seven points, but Snell is one of a number of wing defenders who could be tasked with some kind of responsibility for Dion Waiters’ career night. Aside from some questionable defensive possessions, Snell also had some “adventures” dribbling the ball, including a particularly poor turnover.. G. Milwaukee Bucks. TONY SNELL

GIANNIS ANTETOKOUNMPO. B. Again, by his incredibly high standards, this was a slightly sub-par night for Giannis. That may still have resulted in 24 points and 10 rebounds, but Giannis didn’t quite look himself. For the second straight night, the Greek Freak struggled to score efficiently. On top of that, there were a couple of rare instances when he failed to make the extra effort on defense, accompanying the lapse with some slightly dejected body language. I have no doubt the circus of events that have accompanied the Bucks’ last few days have been particularly difficult for Giannis, who would have imagined marking his All-Star berth in a very different way. Still, he’s embraced being the guy up until this point and he’ll need to be the one to turn things around for the Bucks again.. G/F. Milwaukee Bucks

B+. Whatever you make of Kidd’s reasons for benching Jabari, he could easily have started Michael Beasley or Mirza Teletovic in his place. Instead, the gauntlet was thrown down to Thon Maker, and he more than lived up to the challenge. A bundle of energy and effort, that likely played into the fact that the Bucks made their most positive progress with him on the floor (team-high plus-minus of +7). Thon made a nice three-pointer, held his nerve at the free throw line for the most part, and showed some positive defensive instincts too. Considering the circumstances and his lack of experience, he couldn’t have done much better than this.. F/C. Milwaukee Bucks. THON MAKER

B. This was never a matchup that you’d expect John Henson to come out on top of, and as such, he had his share of not so great moments. Saying that, for the second night in a row there were more positives than negatives from Henson. The big man grabbed 11 points going 4-7 from the field and added a more than respectable nine rebounds for good measure. He’s far from perfect, but considering how anonymous he was for most of the past two weeks, it’s only fair to recognize improved performances like this one.. C. Milwaukee Bucks. JOHN HENSON