Milwaukee Bucks: 3 takeaways from lackluster loss to Washington Wizards
By Dalton Sell
2021 NBA Summer League has proven to be a mixed bag thus far for the Milwaukee Bucks, with Sunday’s contest resulting in another loss.
That defeat would come at the hands of the Washington Wizards, who handled their business with a 93-83 victory over the Bucks. Things were relatively competitive between the two teams midway through the second quarter, with the Bucks clinging to their largest lead of the contest, but the Wizards fired back and claimed the lead, which they would never surrender again.
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It was Washington forward Corey Kispert, the 15th selection in the 2021 NBA Draft, who paved the way for this comeback by scoring 18 points on 7-of-12 shooting, which included knocking down four triples in seven tries.
Among the several negative takeaways that were prominent in this game, there are also some positives. With that being said, here are three takeaways from the Bucks’ loss to the Wizards.
The Milwaukee Bucks get a big boost from some fresh faces in loss to Washington Wizards
The Bucks have certainly assembled an interesting cast of characters on their roster for this year’s Summer League. While most of the attention has been given to the team’s draft picks, it was the performances of several of the other players that stood out this time around.
The first came from Jalen Crutcher, who slid into the starting lineup and gave the Bucks quality offense by scoring 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting, including 2-of-3 from long range. He was very efficient in scoring the basketball, but he also showed off his facilitating prowess by dishing out five assists, which was tied for a team-high. Crutcher finished the game with a +/- of +5, showing that his impact was written all over this game as he was just one of the two Bucks — more on the other one in a minute — to finish with a positive rating.
Two other key contributors for the Bucks came off the bench, with Steven Enoch leading things off. Enoch has shown flashes of potential throughout the Summer League to this point with some noticeably high-energy play, which he kept consistent against Washington. He finished the game with 10 points on 60 percent shooting, also grabbing three rebounds. Enoch’s play was matched second unit guard D’Mitrik Trice, who most Bucks fans might remember from his recent days with the Wisconsin Badgers. Trice finished with eight points on 3-of-4 shooting, including knocking in two of his three triples.
As the Bucks still possess their second two-way contract opening, players like these three are looking to make their case as to why they should potentially earn it, and they caught some deserving attention Sunday. Who knows how things will ultimately transpire, but games like these will help raise their stock unquestionably.