Milwaukee Bucks: Takeaways from 103-100 loss to Utah Jazz

The 2nd half turnaround

To say the Bucks looked dead in the water by the end of the first half would be an understatement as their incredibly sluggish play showed over the game’s first 24 minutes.

And it only makes the work they collectively did throughout the second half more than encouraging as the Bucks were not only able to make it a game over that span, but had a chance to even come away with the unlikeliest of victories (more on that later).

Their will and and gutsy effort showed throughout their comeback attempt and at the heart of it all was Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo as 28 of his 30 total points came over the course of the second half before he fouled out at the 1:13 mark in the final frame.

Antetokounmpo kicked on in a major way as he did all of the things that we’ve come to expect from him on a given night, whether that’s being able to penetrate the paint for incredible finishes, get to the free throw line or add in a couple of threes as has been the case occasionally. Unfortunately, picking up cheap fouls and errant decisions when looking for teammates sullied the reigning MVP’s second half performance, but it was a huge improvement when compared to how his night started.

Milwaukee managed to outscore the Jazz 65-48 throughout the third and fourth quarters and what’s remarkable is how the second effort plays they made throughout that entire half made a huge difference in being able to climb in it. Case in point, the Bucks outrebounded the Jazz 33-20 in the second half and did so when playing small ball lineups and they generated 15 second chance points on the 12 offensive rebounds they corralled over the half, per NBA.com/stats.

It may have all gone for naught in the end, but being in position to have a puncher’s chance as the Bucks did late is still half of the battle.