Milwaukee Bucks: Takeaways from 110-103 win over Memphis Grizzlies

Bench beatdown

The Milwaukee Bucks’ starters dominated the game against the Grizzlies. The Bucks’ starters outscored the Grizzlies 85-49. Meanwhile, every Bucks’ starter recorded a positive plus/minus, as every Grizzlies starter logged a negative one.

What kept Memphis in the game was their spectacular bench play. The Grizzlies’ bench outscored the Bucks by 29 on Monday. A large part of this was due to a break-out performance by Tyreke Evans, who scored 27 points on only 16 shot attempts.

Tyreke Evans is in the midst of an uncharacteristic purple patch from three at the moment, meaning that there is perhaps some element of fluke to that. However, the Bucks cannot let this one-time blip become a trend. In order to become a consistent team you cannot rely on your starters night-in and night-out. The Bucks will need the bench to pick them up at times.

The Bucks are hoping that Malcolm Brogdon moving to a bench role will help stabilize the second unit. Prior to the trade Brogdon was the team’s third leading scorer, and the Bucks will need him to stay somewhere around that range.

Question marks remain as to whether Brogdon can create his own offense. It was one of his flaws coming out in the draft, and on Monday he was 0-of-4 while taking some particularly difficult floaters.

Playing on the bench is an adjustment. Here’s to hoping Brogdon figures it out enough to carry the whole bench along with him long-term.