The Milwaukee Bucks bounced back from their season opening loss and dominated the Golden State Warriors 138-99 in their Christmas Day victory Friday.
The Milwaukee Bucks had previously not hosted a Christmas Day game since 1968, but that all changed as they welcomed the Golden State Warriors to town Friday afternoon.
After their heartbreaking opening night defeat earlier in the week, the Bucks bounced back in a major way with a 138-99 victory on Christmas Day. It was the second-largest margin of victory for a Christmas Day game in NBA history and helped get the Bucks their first win of the 2020-21 season.
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It was a relatively close first half as the Bucks took a 10 point lead heading into the break. However, Milwaukee came out rejuvenated for the second half and looked virtually unstoppable as they outscored Golden State 74-43 in the final 24 minutes of the game.
With that being said, here are three takeaways on Friday’s win over the Golden State Warriors.
Takeaway No. 3 – Augustin, Merrill, and Nwora look solid in their official Milwaukee Bucks debuts
Several players enjoyed their debuts for the Bucks this Christmas Day, but D.J. Augustin, Sam Merrill, and Jordan Nwora particularly stood out.
Augustin, the veteran point guard that Milwaukee inked to a three-year, $21 million deal this offseason, made a strong first impression. Having played 13 minutes, Augustin finished with 13 points on 4-of-6 shooting from the field, which included going 3-for-3 from behind the arc. Although his playmaking was minimal, having finished the day with just one assist, Augustin provided a solid scoring punch off the bench in his Bucks debut.
Sam Merrill, the 60th pick in this past draft, also looked good in his regular season debut following a promising preseason run. The guard logged just over seven fourth quarter minutes, but made an immediate impact as he went a perfect 2-for-2 from 3-point territory. In addition to his six points, Merrill tallied four assists, three rebounds, and a steal to the stat sheet and showed his substantial potential despite the limited playing time.
Merrill was not the only rookie to make his official debut for the Bucks yesterday afternoon as 22-year-old Jordan Nwora also took the court for the first time.
Nwora was not shy over his nine minutes and 45 secons on the court and finished with seven points on 2-of-6 shooting from the field (1-for-3 from long distance). Despite the subpar shooting numbers, Nwora showed confidence in his first Bucks appearance and he, along with Merrill, have fans hoping they can respectively carve out a steady role in the rotation sooner rather than later.
While Nwora went 1-of-3 shooting from downtown, Augustin and Merrill went 5-for-5, which helped propel a massive day for the Bucks shooting the ball.