Calling the Milwaukee Bucks’ 143-136 loss to the Houston Rockets Thursday night embarrassing would be a massive understatement.
Having entered this matchup with the worst record in the association at 15-47, Houston has been spiraling downward lately after being hit with a series of various injuries to key players. The team was just 3-15 since March 27, and this should have been a routine Milwaukee win against the Rockets.
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Safe to say that is not how it went at all as the Bucks gave up a whopping 143 points to an undermanned Houston team. This was largely part due to the Rockets shooting the lights out from behind the arc by going 25-for-46 on the night.
Ironically, the Rockets entered this game as the worst shooting team from distance at 33.3 percent, but they were able to exploit the Bucks as teams oftentimes tend to do.
Still, the elephant in the room remains the health of Giannis Antetokounmpo. The Greek Freak rolled his ankle just 46 seconds into the contest and was immediately ruled out for a return. Following the loss, head coach Mike Budenholzer said that Giannis would be re-evaluated Friday ahead of Milwaukee’s matchup with the Chicago Bulls.
While we await any updates on Antetokounmpo, here are three takeaways from the Bucks’ brutal loss to the Rockets last night.
The Milwaukee Bucks get lit up by familiar faces in loss to Rockets
It was a reunion of sorts in Houston last night as there were several players with former ties to Milwaukee now donning Rockets jerseys. Unfortunately for the Bucks, those players must have had this one circled on the calendar as they were all seemingly out for revenge.
The Bucks selected guard Kevin Porter Jr. with the 30th pick in the 2019 NBA Draft, but he never suited up for them as his draft rights were already being shipped elsewhere. Porter had himself a record-breaking performance last night by tallying 50 points, 11 assists, and five rebounds to lead Houston to victory. At 20-years-old, Porter became the youngest player in NBA history to score at least 50 points and 11 assists, overtaking LeBron James, who was 23 at the time.
Kevin Porter Jr. (50 PTS, 11 AST) is the youngest player in NBA history (20 years, 360 days) with 50+ points and 10+ assists in a game.
— NBA History (@NBAHistory) April 30, 2021
LeBron James (50 PTS, 10 AST on March 5, 2008) was the youngest previously, at 23 years, 66 days. pic.twitter.com/HT3lWmxA6r
Porter was certainly not alone with his contributions as former Buck Christian Wood also turned up the intensity by tying his season-high of 31 points on 10-of-21 shooting, including an impressive 6-for-10 from behind the arc. Wood’s ability to space the floor proved to be a nightmarish matchup for the Bucks without Giannis in the game and he made them pay.
Lastly, D.J. Wilson made a big impact off the Rocket’s bench in this one by recording a double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds. Wilson was traded to Houston from Milwaukee earlier this year in their trade centered around P.J. Tucker, and he seemed intent on staying aggressive against his former team from start to finish.
With a combined 96 points between the three, these players formerly linked to the Bucks in some capacity were out for blood.