RoLo’s starting turn
Certainly the Bucks’ unsung hero of the night, Robin Lopez turned in yet another fantastic performance in his spot start in place of his twin brother, Brook, Monday night.
The Bucks didn’t lose much of anything with Robin on the floor alongside the four other regular starters on the court and his rim protection provided plenty of resistance in ways that the Bucks couldn’t offer when they decided to play smaller and with more speed.
Eventually, Lopez’s sharpshooting followed suit as he knocked down back-to-back triples near the start of the second quarter to help get the Bucks back on track offensively at that point in the game. The 31-year-old’s third triple came near the start of the third quarter to help kickstart their run to start the second half.
But just as the Bucks were looking to avoid disaster and prevent an unlikely defeat to the Wizards, it was Lopez who came to the rescue as he viciously sent away Rui Hachimura‘s finish attempt at the rim that eventually forced things to go into overtime.
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And finally, Lopez kicked off the Bucks’ overtime scoring with a nice righty hook shot and was a constant on the floor throughout the overtime period, thanks to his ability set punishing screens to help free up the likes of Middleton to hit uncontested shots.
Lopez posted 11 points on five shots (3-for-4 from downtown), three blocks, one rebound, one assist, one steal and was a +7 over his 32 minutes and 53 seconds on the court for Monday night’s win.
Next up is a quick flight to take on the Toronto Raptors Tuesday night, which will tip off at 6.30 p.m. central time at Scotiabank Arena.