The Milwaukee Bucks‘ five-game win streak certainly finished with quite a thud Tuesday night.
The Denver Nuggets strolled into Fiserv Forum and picked up their third straight victory with a 128-97 win that doubled as the Bucks’ worst loss so far this 2020-21 season.
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Just as the score line indicates, Denver’s complete performance on both ends of the floor left the Bucks searching for any and all answers as they struggle to come within striking distance to make it a game following a hot start.
So without further ado, let’s break down what all stood out in the Milwaukee Bucks’ loss to the Denver Nuggets from Tuesday night.
First takeaway from loss to Nuggets — Zone defense flummoxes Milwaukee Bucks
Milwaukee’s aforementioned hot start, which was supplied by a dunking spree by superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo, turned cold as a result of the Nuggets turning to a zone defense that absolutely bottled up Milwaukee’s offensive attack.
That, in turn, set the stage for the Nuggets’ throttling of the Bucks as they quickly ran away with the game and didn’t look back, especially as the Bucks’ offense came to a standstill midway through the first half. Far too often, Bucks players let fly quick, errant shots while their movement completely dried up that helped the Nuggets settle in defensively.
Save for when Antetokounmpo was on the floor, it was far too late for the Bucks to start forcing the issue and trying to break down the Nuggets’ defense with mixed results.
All of that left with the Bucks finishing with the worst offensive rating for a single game this season, per NBA.com/stats. Secondly, the Bucks’ 32 paint points stands as the third-fewest Milwaukee has scored in a game this season.
Given their subpar shooting night as they went 11-for-40 from 3-point range (27.5 percent), Milwaukee’s offensive balance was completely thrown out of rhythm for the reasons listed above. And the fact that it eventually led to their worst offensive performance of the season proved to be no surprise.
Second takeaway from loss to Nuggets — Milwaukee Bucks struggle to contain Denver’s star tandem
Milwaukee’s offense was by far the biggest problem they encountered on the night, but their defensive play wasn’t all that much better.
To that point, though, it’s hard for any team, much less the Bucks, slowing down Nuggets All-Star big man Nikola Jokic, who went on to finish with his eighth triple-double of his career. The Serbian international had 37 points on 15-of-23 shooting, 11 assists and 10 rebounds and completely bent the Bucks’ defense to his will that made it that much easier for himself and teammates to thrive offensively.
Playing Robin to Jokic’s Batman, Denver guard Jamal Murray posed the same problems to the Bucks as he consistently sank ridiculous shots when often draped by Bucks defenders. Murray posted 24 points on 10-for-17 shooting (1-for-5 from deep), six assists and three boards in 38 minutes of run.
With both Jokic and Murray dialed in offensively, the Nuggets shot a ridiculous 14-for-20 on mid-range shots all while collectively scoring 56 points in the painted area Tuesday night. No matter the personnel or the defensive coverages the Bucks threw the Nuggets’ way, it did nothing to slow down what ended up being Denver’s most efficient offensive performance of the season as they had a 133.3 offensive rating on the night.
Sometimes, all you can do is tip your hat when you’re going up against a team that is in completely control like the Nuggets were last night.
Third takeaway from loss to Nuggets — Jrue Holiday is still out of sorts for Milwaukee Bucks
In what served as his second game since returning from having COVID-19, Jrue Holiday is unsurprisingly trying to get in sync within the Bucks’ foundation.
Holiday again came off the bench and played on a tight minutes restriction, yet struggled to gain much of a rhythm, which was a problem he shared with most of his teammates, to be fair. The veteran guard’s defense and rotations were incredibly sound at times as the Bucks needed his presence at the point of attack to provide some much-needed resistance.
It was on the offensive end where Holiday’s struggles were more evident. Even in the limited opportunities that came his way, Holiday’s shot has been off the mark from three and his overpassing led to some uncharacteristic turnovers by him over his regimented shifts on the floor.
All in all, Holiday finished with 4 points on 2-for-6 shooting (0-for-4 from downtown), three assists as well as three turnovers, a rebound as well as a steal in 18 minutes and 15 seconds on the court.
With one more game left until the All-Star break, Holiday will certainly will look to build up his conditioning and tighten his skills in order to get back up to full speed.
The Milwaukee Bucks will finish out the first half of their 2020-21 season when they visit the Memphis Grizzlies Thursday night at FedEx Forum.