Milwaukee Bucks: D.J. Augustin benefits from change into starting lineup

It took 11 days and five straight losses for the Milwaukee Bucks to finally stop the bleeding.

While it wasn’t pretty at times, the Bucks earning their 98-85 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder was exactly what the struggling Bucks needed to climb out of their awful losing skid that crept into the start of their homestand.

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Getting over the hump in the manner that the Bucks did certainly mirrored what Bucks fans have been hoping to see out of veteran point guard D.J. Augustin to this point in his growing stint in Milwaukee.

Friday night marked Augustin’s first Bucks start as Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer opted too insert the 33-year-old in the starting lineup instead of Bryn Forbes, who originally stepped up in place of Jrue Holiday since entering the league’s health and safety protocols.

It wasn’t exactly a high bar to clear, but Augustin enjoyed one of his better performances in what has been a rough start to the season for the 13-year veteran. Augustin finished with 11 points on 4-of-8 shooting (3-for-7 from downtown), five assists, two boards and a steal while playing a season-high 32-and-a-half minutes.

Where as the Bucks had struggled against plenty of defensive pressure in their two-game series against the Raptors, Budenholzer opting for more of a traditional point guard such as Augustin gave the Bucks more composure on the ball. Just as Budenholzer discussed following the much-needed win to Jim Owczarski of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

"“I think he helps get us organized, allowed Donte (DiVincenzo) to play a little bit off the ball and kind of play that combo guard; play some off the ball and then come back in and play on the ball,” Budenholzer said of the decision to start Augustin. “I think we need D.J. and he really helped us tonight and we’ll really need him a lot going forward so I just like his organization. He’s a very good player so we need him.”"

D.J. Augustin has played well alongside the Milwaukee Bucks’ starters.

The fact that Augustin’s move into the starting lineup resulted in a solid performance was quite the boost that he has needed to shake out of his season-long woes. Of the Bucks’ many offseason additions, Augustin has had the roughest go by far and clearly hasn’t been comfortable in trying to assume a spark plug-type role off the bench.

With that in mind, Budenholzer’s decision to play him alongside the Bucks’ everyday starting lineup could serve as a way of unlocking him and his skill set.

Even as Augustin has had very inefficient season shooting the ball as a whole, judging by his effective field goal percentage (45.5 percent) and true shooting percentage (51.3 percent), his 3-point shooting at 37.3 percent nears his 37.9 career percentage from long range. And it’s been on catch-and-shoot triples where Augustin is shooting 45 percent on the year that has been elevated when getting wide-open looks. Augustin is shooting 47.5 percent on such shots this season.

Furthermore, the Bucks are outscoring their opponents by +51.4 points per 100 possessions in the 16 minutes Augustin has played next to Giannis Antetokounmpo, Donte DiVincenzo, Brook Lopez and Khris Middleton. Take DiVincenzo out of the equation and the Bucks are still holding strong with Augustin playing next to Antetokounmpo, Lopez and Middleton as that quartet has a +12.1 net rating in 75 minutes together.

All of this isn’t to paint a rosier picture of what has been a largely dreadful season for Augustin since arriving to Milwaukee in free agency. Augustin’s limitations when looking to creating his own shot or driving the engine of the Bucks’ offense has been diminished by his inability to drive and finish within the paint.

It’s when Augustin has been asked to play more off the ball and alongside ball-dominant players like Antetokounmpo and Middleton we’ve seen him knock down shots from distance and find his rhythm as a complementary piece. With fellow newcomers like Bryn Forbes and Bobby Portis both enjoying nice seasons in similar manners, Augustin largely hasn’t had that luxury as he has been tasked to take the reins of the second unit and keep the Bucks afloat in such spots.

While the Bucks continue to wait for Holiday’s return, perhaps finding a way to getting Augustin going after his extensive struggles will kick on a resurgence for the veteran. After all, he’s long overdue in trying to find his rhythm.