Milwaukee Bucks: Grades from 114-108 Game 5 loss to Brooklyn Nets

D+. After struggling for a large portion of this series, Jrue Holiday finally started to look like himself for a majority of this contest. He looked aggressive from the opening tip and would finish with 19 points on 7-of-16 shooting, including 3-of-7 from deep while handing out eight assists. Holiday put up reputable numbers, despite his three turnovers. Yet, the most memorable moment of his night was a lowlight, where Holiday air-balled a practically wide-open mid-range jumper in the fourth quarter. That was part of a 2-for-6 shooting effort in the final 12 minutes, which certainly played a massive factor in the Bucks’ demise. Holiday will not receive the most blame among players, but he is on the list regardless.. PG. Milwaukee Bucks. JRUE HOLIDAY

KHRIS MIDDLETON. D-. Khris Middleton came up huge in the previous two contests that helped the Bucks even up the series, but he shrunk once again last night. The forward shot just 8-of-22 from the floor, including an abysmal 3-of-10 from deep. Shooting 6-of-7 from the line, Middleton got a massive boost from the charity stripe to bump up those scoring numbers. Despite finishing with 25 points, it was far from the Middleton that fans anticipated after he looked like a changed player in the previous two contests. Dishing out five assists, hauling in four rebounds, and notching a block and a steal apiece, Middleton was undoubtedly active during his 45-and-a-half minutes of action, but it ultimately was not enough in what turned out to be yet another ugly postseason failure added to his resume full of them.. SG. Milwaukee Bucks

F. P.J. Tucker shocked everyone with how phenomenal he played on both ends of the floor in Game 4, but that magic ceased entirely in Game 5. The forward logged yet another scoreless performance as he missed all three of his shots from the field, including two from deep. Although he is not known for his offense, anything would have helped. He certainly was not much better on the defensive end either as his primary assignment, Kevin Durant, finished with 49 points on 69.6 percent shooting from the floor. While not all of that falls onto Tucker’s shoulders, it did not help that he dug himself into a hole early by getting in foul trouble and finishing the game with five fouls in totality.. SF. Milwaukee Bucks. P.J. TUCKER

D-. Giannis Antetokounmpo’s numbers from this game would typically signal that he had a great game. He finished with 34 points while shooting 14-of-22 from the floor, including an impressive 2-for-4 from behind the arc. Also tallying 12 rebounds, four assists, a steal, and two blocks, one might argue that Giannis made the most of his nearly 42 minutes of action. However, with the game hanging in the balance in the fourth quarter, Antetokounmpo fell victim to the moment in the final 12 minutes. One play, in particular, that is circling is a post-up play where Antetokounmpo had the ball with James Harden matched up against him. Harden was not even supposed to play in this game as he is practically playing on one leg, which should have made it an easy advantage for Giannis to get a basket with the game closely contested. Rather than posting up the much smaller Harden, Antetokounmpo settled for a turnaround fadeaway that had no chance of going in. It was a horrible decision with an easy bucket just waiting for him that would have put the Bucks in a much better position to win this game with their offense stuck in the mud up until that point. Also finishing with four fouls and two turnovers in the period, Antetokounmpo’s late-game issues rear their ugly head once again.. PF. Milwaukee Bucks. GIANNIS ANTETOKOUNMPO

Milwaukee Bucks. BROOK LOPEZ. C-. Brook Lopez had himself a fine night for the most part. He was scoring the basketball with efficiency, finishing with 15 points on 6-of-10 from the floor, including 3-of-5 from deep. After only attempting 3-pointers last game, it was good to see him do more work closer to the hoop against the undersized Brooklyn team that Milwaukee should be dominating inside. While it is not entirely his fault, the Nets exploited Lopez several times late in this game. Durant, who was just unbelievable in the fourth quarter, called for several picks to get the mismatch on Lopez, to which the big man would stick to his typical drop coverage and protect the hoop. Not the smartest decision when arguably the best mid-range shooter in the association has the basketball in his hands. Not to mention that he finished with 49 points either. Lopez continues proving obsolete periodically in this series, and the head coach is struggling to make the right adjustments to figure out just what he can do to fix it.. C