The Milwaukee Bucks suffered their fourth loss of the 2020-21 season as they were handed a 131-118 loss by the Utah Jazz Friday night.
It was an off-night for the Milwaukee Bucks from start to finish as they took on the Utah Jazz for their ninth game of the season.
The Bucks hit another bump in the road as the Jazz walked out of Fiserv Forum victorious with a 131-118 win. Despite the loss, Giannis Antetokounmpo continued his recent dominance with a 35-point performance, and Khris Middleton followed suit by having 31 points and 10 rebounds of his own.
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However, after that, there are not many positives to discuss from this matchup, as the Utah Jazz handled their business with relative ease.
Nevertheless, here are three takeaways from the Milwaukee Bucks’ fourth loss this season.
No. 3 – A tale of two benches
Eight games into the season, the Bucks’ bench had been fantastic. They ranked sixth in scoring at 42.5 points per game and showed substantial promise as one of the team’s strong suits. However, the second unit was downright awful in Friday night’s matchup against the Jazz.
When the final buzzer sounded, the bench had scored just 12 points in the loss, half of them coming late in the fourth when the Bucks had already thrown in the towel. Rookie Jordan Nwora was the only reserve to score on multiple occasions in what was simply an off night for the Bucks’ bench mob.
Meanwhile, the Utah bench shot 14-of-28 from the field en route to 35 points. However, it was more of a one-man wrecking crew than an all-around effort as Jordan Clarkson logged a season-high 26 points. The Bucks had no answer whatsoever for Clarkson and failed to slow him down as the Jazz continued to ride the momentum and build up a sizeable lead time and time again.
Hopefully, this was just a blip for Milwaukee’s bench because they were awful in the loss. The reserves have shown that they can provide a solid presence when called upon, but tonight simply was not their night.
No. 2 – An off night from behind the arc doomed the Bucks
Much like their bench, the first eight games of the season had been kind to the Bucks in terms of 3-point shooting. They were leading the league in percentage by a fair amount at 43.5 percent, but after watching Friday’s blowout defeat at the hands of the Jazz, you would have never guessed it.
The Bucks shot 13-for-42 from behind the arc in the contest, making for an abysmal 31 percent. Despite dominating Utah in the paint, it will always be a longshot for Milwaukee to win when they have such a poor night shooting. Brook Lopez finished with a team-high four triples for the Bucks, but it was not much to rave about as he took a whopping 12 attempts total from distance on the night to get there.
Circling back to the bench’s minimal contributions, the reserves did not hit a single shot from long-range in the contest. Going 0-of-8 on 3-pointers certainly did not help the Bucks, but these issues plagued the entire roster from top to bottom for 48 straight minutes.
In short, it was simply an off night for the entire team shooting the ball. Milwaukee has several games this season with 20 or more triples in a single outing, so this is a team that is capable of lighting it up from deep. However, it was the Jazz that were firing on all cylinders on Friday night.
No. 1 – Jazz torched the Bucks from distance for 48 minutes
It seems that whenever teams are playing against the Bucks, they shatter a franchise record for most 3-pointers made in a game. This can certainly be attributed to Mike Budenholzer’s drop-back defensive scheme that welcomes an onslaught of triples from opponents, and the Jazz took full advantage.
The Jazz shot 25-of-53 from behind the arc, which, as you guessed, is a new franchise record. It was heart-wrenching to watch Milwaukee chip away at Utah’s lead, only for the Jazz to connect on a 3-pointer to erase any momentum the Bucks had been conjuring to make a run. Royce O’Neale led the Jazz with six triples, but Mike Conley and Jordan Clarkson were right behind him with five apiece as they got every look that they wanted to drop.
It is performances like these from opponents that sting the most because defending the 3-pointer has been a fatal flaw for the Bucks over the two seasons. While one horrendous game should not cause mass panic, Utah’s latest franchise record set will undoubtedly leave a sour taste in the Bucks’ mouth for the foreseeable future.
Thankfully, they will have little time to let it sink in as they have an opportunity to get back on track with a Central Division matchup against the Cleveland Cavaliers Saturday night, and you can catch the action on Fox Sports Wisconsin.