Behind the Bucks Pass
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Milwaukee Bucks: Takeaways from 122-118 win over Utah Jazz

By Jordan Treske

MILWAUKEE, WI - NOVEMBER 25: Giannis Antetokounmpo #34 of the Milwaukee Bucks shoots the ball against the Utah Jazz on November 25, 2019 at the Fiserv Forum Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Gary Dineen/NBAE via Getty Images).
MILWAUKEE, WI - NOVEMBER 25: Giannis Antetokounmpo #34 of the Milwaukee Bucks shoots the ball against the Utah Jazz on November 25, 2019 at the Fiserv Forum Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Gary Dineen/NBAE via Getty Images). /
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MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN – NOVEMBER 25: (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN – NOVEMBER 25: (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images) /

Game of threes

Before Antetokounmpo stole the show in the way he often does, and even as he personally vaulted the Bucks’ comeback, the Bucks’ battle with the Jazz was defined by how the two teams fared from three-point range.

Save for a few triples from the likes of Sterling Brown, Brook Lopez and Wes Matthews, the Bucks couldn’t buy a bucket from three-point range over the first half and had a stretch of 10 consecutive missed threes before Brown broke the drought. The Jazz, meanwhile, fared much better outside the arc over the first half by going 9-for-18 from long range (the Jazz were 11-of-23 on two-pointers over that span of the game).

It was during the third quarter when the Bucks’ three-point fortunes changed signficiantly, thanks to a three-point outburst from Matthews, who hit four of his five triples for the night in that period alone. That helped the former Golden Eagle finish with a season-high 19 points and he continues to flourish on the Bucks’ home floor as my co-site expert Adam McGee recently detailed.

With Antetokounmpo and Matthews coming alive from long distance over the second half, 10 of the Bucks’ 13 total triples came over the course of the third and fourth periods.

Utah kept hitting from beyond the arc and continued their first half formula by adding another 12 triples to finish with 21 total treys to make that their season-high for a single game this year. Along with that, the Jazz’s 46.7 three-point percentage is the second-highest mark they’ve tallied for a game this year.

With that level of firepower coming from the Jazz’s side of the court all night long, who entered the night as the fourth-best three-point shooting team in the league, it’s quite remarkable that the Bucks were able to withstand the shooting performance Utah put on Monday night. And history shows there’s not much precedent for teams like the Bucks being able to outpace such efficient shooting performances as this outing the Jazz put together.

And still, the Bucks defied the odds Monday night.

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