By hook or by Brook
All NBA fans came into Wednesday night waiting to see what both Giannis Antetokounmpo and Kawhi Leonard would deliver in Game 1. While both superstars more than lived up to the hype, the Bucks’ Game 1 win was defined by a career performance by veteran Bucks big man Brook Lopez.
Playing 34-and-a-half minutes of action, Lopez finished with a team-high 29 points on 12-of-21 shooting from the field (4-of-11 from three, 1-of-2 from the foul line), 11 rebounds, four blocks, two assists and was a +7 on the night.
Anyone hoping to see Lopez regain his shooting touch from long range after a forgettable offensive series in the last round was quickly concerned as the 31-year-old struggled from that level of the floor to start out the night. But Lopez chugged along as he turned his sights inside the arc, putting down a variety of rolling and second chance finishes at the basket to help give the Bucks a much needed spark in the first half.
In fact, half of the 24 second chance points the Bucks scored on the night came courtesy of Lopez, which nearly equaled the 13 second chance points Toronto scored in total.
Eventually, the dam burst open from three-point range for Lopez, starting back in the second quarter. But it was the three triples that Lopez connected on in his 13-point fourth quarter, with the last one coming at the 1:55 mark of the period, that set Fiserv Forum ablaze and finally gave the Bucks the breakthrough they needed to seal the game.
All of that isn’t touching on the incredible performance Lopez had on the defensive end, which only grew in its importance as he increasingly smothered various Raptors players on their way to the paint and at the basket. And then there’s this stat, which comes courtesy of ESPN Milwaukee’s Pratik Patel.
brook lopez entire series vs. celtics: 27 points
— Pratik (@PatelESPN) May 16, 2019
brook lopez game 1 vs. raptors: 29 points
Needless to say, the legend of Splash Mountain, as if it wasn’t big enough already around these parts, grew a bit larger and it’s safe to say Lopez may have cemented his status as a Milwaukee folk hero with this performance.