Milwaukee Bucks: Takeaways from 115-101 win over Chicago Bulls

No splash zone

It hasn’t been the three-point shooting start that Bucks big man Brook Lopez has wanted so far in 2019-20. And that certainly extended into Milwaukee’s win over the Bulls Monday night where the 31-year-old went 1-for-5 from beyond the arc.

However, Lopez came up clutch throughout the fourth quarter and especially after the Bucks briefly lost the lead at the 6:23 mark in the period as 11 of Lopez’s 19 points for the night came during that frame.

That was thanks to his ability to have the Bucks’ offense run through him out of the post, putting the ball down on the floor for one of his slow-motion drives and getting to the free throw line as five of Lopez’s eight free throws came in the fourth quarter alone. Not only that, but Lopez’s work on the defensive end and protecting of the rim helped the Bucks cut off the paint to eventually stymie the Bulls’ offensive attack in that regard, and Chicago finished with 50 points in the paint for the night.

In a way, Lopez’s performance in the Bucks’ second win over the Bulls this season was very emblematic of his campaign so far where he’s been merely a spacing threat, yet hasn’t made opposing defenses pay to the regularity that he did last season.

And it hasn’t impacted the Bucks so far this season as one might have thought so and hopefully Lopez is able to regain his shooting stroke as the season rolls along.