Milwaukee Bucks: Takeaways from 98-90 win over Los Angeles Lakers

Delly vs Brogdon, part two

Matthew Dellavedova got run before Malcolm Brogdon for the second straight game on Saturday, although the box score tells the real story. Despite Delly checking in first, Brogdon played more in the contest, putting up 33 minutes to Delly’s 15.

Marques Johnson offered an explanation for Delly getting to check in first on the broadcast, theorizing that Jason Kidd prefers to play Dellavedova first due to all of the starters who are still in the game for that first substitution.

Kidd is, according to Marques, waiting to insert Brogdon in order to let other starters sit down first, putting more responsibility on the reigning Rookie of the Year in his sophomore season. The minutes breakdown for the two players supports that theory.

It is true that who closes a game matters more than who opens it, and that evidence supports Marques’ theory as well. Brogdon got the big minutes to end the night, while Delly spent a lot of time with other impact players like Giannis and Khris Middleton around him.

It worked out well for both players. Delly acted as a real sparkplug in some of his minutes with good players around him, and Brogdon’s newfound off-the-dribble game saw Milwaukee’s bench kill the Lakers’ second units for most of his minutes. The Bucks outscored the Lakers by 23 points with Brogdon on the floor, the best mark on the squad.