Milwaukee Bucks: Takeaways from 103-91 win over Portland Trail Blazers

Backcourt Domination

Portland has one of the top-5, if not one of the top-3 backcourts in the NBA. Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum are two of the best at their respective positions due to their off-the-charts scoring ability, particularly their elite sharp-shooting status.

You wouldn’t have known that watching on Thursday night, though. The Blazers backcourt struggled to do much of anything against the Bucks, scoring 33 points on under 40 percent shooting. 33 points doesn’t seem like a particularly poor scoring night, but considering it is nearly 20 less than their combined average 50.2 per game, the Bucks certainly will count 33 as a win.

Meanwhile, with Lillard guarding Eric Bledsoe and McCollum matched up against Khris Middleton, the Bucks not only did a great job of limiting Portland’s backcourt scoring, they also took advantage of the two undersized guards on the other end of the court.

Bledsoe and Middleton combined for 51 points, each going 10-17 from the field. Bledsoe consistently knifed through the defense, scoring at the rim, as well as a nifty mid-range shot he found often from around the free-throw line. His scoring partner, Middleton used his size advantage, often taking McCollum into the post and hitting his favorite turn-around jumper.

The combined performances led to the Bucks’ duo scoring 18 more points on fewer shots than the Blazers’ dynamic tandem. Not often does the Blazers backcourt get outplayed, let alone punked like this.