Milwaukee Bucks: Takeaways from 127-109 win over Portland Trail Blazers

The Milwaukee Bucks tacked on their 31st win of the season Friday night as they took down the Portland Trail Blazers 127-109 on the road.

Coming off a much-needed win over the Los Angeles Lakers earlier this week, the Bucks had some momentum working in their favor, and it was on full display last night. Milwaukee was firmly in control of this one from the beginning as they let Portland’s biggest lead of the night balloon to just four early on in the first quarter.

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Eventually building up a sizeable 24-point lead of their own near the start of the fourth quarter, the Bucks were able to close this one out with relative ease despite a late push by the Blazers in the closing minutes.

All in all, Milwaukee played much better basketball on both ends of the floor, which is a promising sign after their recent losing streak began to highlight issues that had previously plagued them earlier this season.

It was a great team win for the Bucks as they move to 31-17 on the season and continue hanging within striking distance of reclaiming the Eastern Conference’s top overall seed. Only time will tell if they can ultimately work back into that position, but they undoubtedly provided some optimism with their latest performance.

With that being said, here are three takeaways from the win over Portland last night.

Milwaukee Bucks dominate the Blazers in the paint in rout

The Bucks are among the best 3-point shooting teams in the association, but there are certainly bound to be games where it seems like they could not throw a rock into the ocean.

Last night’s matchup with the Blazers was unquestionably one of them as Milwaukee shot just 12-of-39 (30.8 percent) from deep in the game. Typically, that would be a recipe for disaster for a team like the Bucks that are so dependent on the long ball, but they managed to stay afloat by dominating in the post.

Interior defense has been a lingering issue for Portland this season, and Milwaukee had no issue taking advantage by scoring a whopping 58 points down low on the night. Struggling from the outside, the Bucks switched it up and worked to get their shots near the basket more often. The results added up as the Blazers simply did not have an answer for Milwaukee’s attack.

Meanwhile, the defense also flashed potential as they allowed a mere 24 points from Portland in the painted area. Finding a groove defensively has been among the most apparent issues for the Bucks this season, but this performance was a perfect display of what had made them the most reputable unit in the league over the previous two seasons.