Milwaukee Bucks: Takeaways from 117-111 win over Houston Rockets

Unsung heroes

Antetokounmpo may have been the driving force behind the Bucks’ second half comeback, but there were a whole host of veteran contributors who rose to the occasion to help ensure their regular season debut was a winning one.

For starters, Ersan Ilyasova was the Robin to Antetokounmpo’s Batman throughout their strong run in the fourth quarter and all 13 of the Turkish veteran’s points for the night came in the second half.

The same could be said for starting Bucks big man, Brook Lopez, who stood scoreless until the 7:05 mark in the fourth quarter when he promptly capitalized on an Eric Gordon mismatch in the post. Not long after Antetokounmpo fouled out, the Bucks stuck with Lopez to continue doing damage on size mismatches, as well as hitting a crucial triple, and all 11 of his points came in the game’s final seven-plus minutes.

Lastly, Wes Matthews ended up salvaging what was looking to be a very forgettable debut, at least in the first half.

The 33-year-old rebounded from his first half struggles by taking on more defensive responsibilities to guard Rockets superstar James Harden, given Bledsoe’s foul trouble. The switch from Bledsoe to Harden seemingly unlocked Matthews’ game and Harden managed to score four points on 0-of-7 shooting from the field (0-of-6 from downtown, 4-of-4 from the foul line) over the second half with Matthews covering him for much of it.

Add in a couple of triples and some solid finishes, including one created by a steal from Matthews, and the hometown kid ended up making his mark on the win eventually.