Checking in on Jabari
In his super-sub role off the bench, Jabari Parker was one of the rare role players for the Bucks that propped up the squad for moments on Tuesday night.
Playing nearly 32-and-a-half minutes, Parker put up 17 points on 7-of-15 shooting from the field (2-for-7 from downtown), eight rebounds, two assists as well as two turnovers, one steal and was a -1 for the game.
Offensively, Parker’s scoring contributions were scattered throughout the night, with a number of his shot attempts acting as a response of trying to pick up a lagging Bucks offense throughout the game. But Parker managed to fight through without establishing a consistent rhythm, especially in the fourth quarter as he created second chance scores after hauling down offensive rebounds to fuel the Bucks’ push on the Celtics in the period.
However, the promising moments he put in defensively last time out were largely nowhere to be found throughout Game 5 and the Celtics exploited Parker’s defensive deficiencies with quality shots generated through simple passes, especially out of corner threes.
Considering the Bucks needed all the help they could get last night, Parker’s services were needed, even if it was a mixed night overall for him individually. With how this series started for him a little over a week ago, that’s a step forward.