Milwaukee Bucks: Brook Lopez is turning back the clock on offense
As the Milwaukee Bucks close out their regular season in search of fine-tuning, Brook Lopez needs no such thing.
The seven-footer has been on quite the tear to close out his third season in Milwaukee as evidenced by his recent scoring outbursts. Following his 21-point performance in the Bucks’ 142-133 shootout victory over the Indiana Pacers Thursday night, Lopez has now registered five consecutive double-digit scoring performances.
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This stretch has continued a larger trend for Lopez since the All-Star break as he’s scoring has generally ticked upwards as the season has gone on. Since the break, Lopez is averaging 13.8 points on .524/.325/.864 shooting splits 4.8 rebounds, 1.6 blocks and a 62.4 true shooting percentage across 27.3 minutes per game in his 33 appearances.
In many ways, this has been the most prolific and efficient we’ve seen Lopez while wearing a Bucks uniform over the last three seasons. While we still regard him as the sharpshooting ‘Splash Mountain’ that supercharged the Bucks’ five-out offense upon his arrival, he’s been increasing doing things differently than what has been his normal role.
That’s seen him turn it back to ‘Brooklyn Brook’ and feast inside with the help of the Bucks’ new offense and spacing and the multiple playmakers they have at all times Lopez is on the court.
Brook Lopez has been feasting inside for the Milwaukee Bucks this season
Thanks to the implementation of the dunker spot in the Bucks’ offense, Lopez has increasingly used his size and strength to seal off opposing defenders to position himself for point-blank scoring opportunities. The same goes for how Lopez has been increasingly used as a roller for Bucks playmakers and it’s led to easy scores like this simple pick-and-roll and score all set up by Jrue Holiday.
With all of that and the occasional post up being more present within Lopez’s offensive repertoire, the results speak for themselves. Lopez is averaging 1.11 points per paint touch and has converted 74.3 percent of his 113 restricted area attempts since the break, per NBA.com/stats.
This second half surge is helping Lopez finish with this most efficient season of his 13-year career as he’s posting a 60.7 true shooting percentage. Although it should be noted that Lopez had averaged 20.4 points on 62.9 true shooting percentage in 17 appearances in his in his injury-shortened 2013-14 season with the Brooklyn Nets.
Even as his sharpshooting has taken a slight dip as the season has gone on, Lopez being on the floor has generally led to good things for the Bucks’ offense. Milwaukee is averaging 117 points per 100 possessions in the 1,875 minutes Lopez has played this season and are averaging 112.2 points per 100 possessions in the 1,495 minutes he’s been on the bench.
That’s quite the sizeable difference for a Bucks offense that ranks fourth in offensive efficiency for the season. Clearly, Lopez’s presence has helped make that so by enjoying such a successful offensive season.
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As the Bucks gear up for the playoffs and have made wholesale changes with the postseason in mind, Lopez’s interior scoring will certainly be of value to the Bucks as the game grinds down to a more halfcourt-oriented style. Hopefully more scoring outbursts will be on the way for the veteran big man.